News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Why Meta Is Tanking–and How Zuckerberg Can Fix It by usrusr on Tuesday November 01, 2022 @09:52AM (#33421239)
There are plenty of goods that work essentially like veblen goods but that are not really out of reach for anybody who is a non-zero amount of disposable beyond starvation. Converse shoes, Ray Ban shades, there's an endless list of brands that people pay a premium for to show off, despite not containing even the tiniest trace of that exclusivity that stems from being prohibitively expensive.
Re:Why Meta Is Tanking–and How Zuckerberg Can Fix It by giaour on Tuesday November 01, 2022 @09:59AM (#33421332)
The last clause in your comment is doing a lot of work. Prohibitive cost is only one form of exclusivity, but there are many others. For example, Twitter’s blue checks are free today but difficult to obtain. It sounds like Twitter is looking to replace the current system of exclusivity with one based on cost, and $20/month just isn’t very exclusive.