[Npoc-discuss] One More Assault on the DNS System: Facebook "Shops"

[Sam Lanfranco]

	In this time of stakeholder elections and covid-19 clamp downs here is a
bit of food for though for the DNS community, taken from the New York Times
“On Tech” feature. It is one more effort to capture market share, both
at the expense of others and possibly at the expense of the DNS system. 

	Facebook wants you to never leave
(https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=158&emc=edit_ot_20200520&instance_id=18639&nl=on-tech-with-shira-ovide&productCode=OT&regi_id=91571999&segment_id=28570&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F1be0bed6-f5c9-4723-b78b-67786e56fc13&user_id=63a2694758a483af23d06bbce347fddf)
 By Shira Ovide 

	Facebook is trying to be a little bit eBay. 

	The company introduced a new feature Tuesday [May 19] called Shops, which
will let businesses promote and sell products on their Facebook and
Instagram accounts. 

	Sounds like a website, right? Yup, for a long time, Facebook has been
trying to recreate the internet entirely within its walls. 

	I have no idea if businesses will use the Shops feature in large numbers.
But there is a sensible idea at the root: Why should a local toy store
maintain a website when it can repurpose a Facebook or Instagram account it
probably already has? 

	My colleague Mike Isaac, who writes about Facebook, called Shops “a
website in a box.” 

	Shops has similarities to WeChat, the do-everything app in China that is
often the only digital presence for businesses in that country. 

	Many small business owners consider it essential to have a presence on
Facebook. Customers expect to find their favorite shops and restaurants on
Facebook (and Google), but most American businesses will not ditch a
website. That means drumming up attention and sales on Facebook can be one
more draining, expensive, and maddening task. 

	Mike said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder, and chief executive,
called the shots on Shops himself. It is another sign of Zuckerberg taking
control of decisions that he once considered below his pay grade.

	posted by Sam Lanfranco, NPOC
 
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