Just an observation that we seem to have two camps here: one camp correctly noting that GDPR was a net positive for the users, and the other camp correctly noting that GDPR was a net negative for startups and SMBs.
I am surprised that nobody is realizing that what's bad for startups and SMBs is also ultimately bad for the users, just on a longer timescale (with an equally long reversal period).
I remember the US Congress grilling Zuckerberg back in 2018, and him responding that he's certainly willing to make amendments, but if you tie his hands too much, someone from China will swoop in and bypass all regulations. Everyone scoffed at that, and less than 3 years later, TikTok is unstoppable despite Facebook's best efforts. While users' privacy has benefited from Facebook's downfall, their privacy has never been at more risk with the rise of TikTok (I do realize that TikTok's servers are in the US and Singapore, but let's not fool ourselves - the ByteDance leadership would be quickly replaced if they refused a data request from their government). I would consider this a net negative for the users, and particularly for the US as a country.
Just another example proving that the paradox of tolerance [0] is a real thing. If you get too tolerant too quickly, you end up with a less tolerant outcome.
Is there any evidence that TikTok's popularity is due to their non-compliance with regulations, and not just being a novelty and them having lots of money to bankroll such a service without annoying the users with ads like FB does?
On the first-order basis, it might be difficult to pinpoint why Facebook "wasn't allowed" to build this product before anyone else.
On the second-order basis, there is an interesting comparison between how well Facebook hindered Snapchat's growth with their rollout of Stories, vs how well it hindered Tiktok's growth with their rollout of Reels (not very). There are obviously a million factors to consider, but I would argue that us taking Facebook through the dirt 1) weakened its hold over its users and 2) triggered a talent exodus, both of which contributed to Facebook's Reels not being as impactful as Stories (viewed strictly through the lens of defending against the new competitor).
I am surprised that nobody is realizing that what's bad for startups and SMBs is also ultimately bad for the users, just on a longer timescale (with an equally long reversal period).
I remember the US Congress grilling Zuckerberg back in 2018, and him responding that he's certainly willing to make amendments, but if you tie his hands too much, someone from China will swoop in and bypass all regulations. Everyone scoffed at that, and less than 3 years later, TikTok is unstoppable despite Facebook's best efforts. While users' privacy has benefited from Facebook's downfall, their privacy has never been at more risk with the rise of TikTok (I do realize that TikTok's servers are in the US and Singapore, but let's not fool ourselves - the ByteDance leadership would be quickly replaced if they refused a data request from their government). I would consider this a net negative for the users, and particularly for the US as a country.
Just another example proving that the paradox of tolerance [0] is a real thing. If you get too tolerant too quickly, you end up with a less tolerant outcome.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance