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Re:Facebook shuts popular stock trading group amid GameStop ... by Const-me on Friday January 29, 2021 @12:09AM (#25954214)
> Facebook obviously isn’t a natural monopoly

Why not?

It fits the definition from the article. “An industry in which high infrastructural costs and other barriers to entry give the largest supplier in an industry an overwhelming advantage over potential competitors”

In case of FB the infrastructural cost is less of an issue, at least not anymore. I think Amazon and Microsoft are capable of hosting at least a dozen Facebooks each on their clouds should they want to. The main barrier to entry which causes that overwhelming advantage is network effect.

Re:Facebook shuts popular stock trading group amid GameStop ... by JumpCrisscross on Friday January 29, 2021 @01:17AM (#25954625)
Natural monopolies don't have to continuously buy up emerging competitors. Facebook's network effects are strong. But they aren't insurmountable.
Re:Facebook shuts popular stock trading group amid GameStop ... by Const-me on Friday January 29, 2021 @02:32AM (#25954981)
Not sure killing competitors is the main reason for FB’s behavior. Their stock price is somewhat linked to their userbase. This alone creates an incentive to buy competitors.