

Facebook Paper Update Pushes Virality by Sending Download Links With Articles - amitkumar01
http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/04/download-facebook-paper/

======
dublinben
Hijacking sharing links is pretty widely frowned upon. I don't see this as
much better.

------
0x0
Getting the first release was enough of a hassle that I'll probably stay stuck
on v1.0 by taking no actions. (Logging out of appleid, creating a fake us
apple id, signing in with it, "switching stores", downloading, signing out,
signing back in with my regular apple id, and "switching stores" again). So,
no automatic updates here.

------
sirkneeland
I wonder when the Android version will land...

~~~
myko
Probably never. Paper was spearheaded by ex-Apple iOS hackers inside of
Facebook. I doubt they have any inclination of making an Android version.

Maybe if someone on Facebook's Android team decides they want do it? I just
don't see this being a big push internally.

------
danso
Paper seemed like an odd play for Facebook...I get on Facebook because I'm not
intending to read news or anything deep...and yet I _will_ read those if
something compelling comes up in the news feed. So what's the value
proposition of Paper? A prettier news feed, except just focused on news, and a
streamlined way to share on Facebook?

Easing the way for sharing on Facebook is obviously valuable to FB, and to the
kind of users who do like sharing links. But for the majority of casual users,
there's already a way to do that: the normal Facebook app. The only thing
missing is: the newsfeed being filled with actual news instead of baby
pictures and Doge memes...but that's something that is completely within
Facebook's control.

Why not just add a news filter to the status/newsfeed and train users to use
it? That way we can quickly filter between friend status updates and stories
shared in our network. The only Paper-feature that would be absent is the
attractiveness of Paper...but, in the scheme of things, that seems to be a
rather inconsequential feature compared to the burden of users switching to a
whole new app and interface.

~~~
hayksaakian
their big strategy as of the last few years is to spin off features of its
main app into multiple apps.

this has three benefits they want:

better app store coverage

better home screen coverage

fewer taps to do a task on facebook

~~~
r00fus
Exactly how do any of these goals this help the non-FB-obsessed user?

Facebook needs to tie their monetization and growth strategy with, not
orthogonal to, or in opposition to, the needs/desires of their user base.

~~~
hayksaakian
Some people only use Facebook for feature X

For one group that might be Facebook messenger

For another it might be the news feed

Facebook sees single purpose apps (instagram, whatsapp) replacing facebook
altogether. They're scrambling to compete directly (in some cases outright
buying competitors).

