back to article GET A ROOM, yells Facebook as it stumbles on IRC, slaps it in an app

Facebook has built an internet chat-room app that lets people anonymously gossip with one another, just like on IRC. The social network said its Rooms software for iOS lets netizens connect on shared interests and use pseudonyms in order to hide their identities from each other. Just like IRC. People can create their own room …

  1. 404

    I miss Dejanews

    ...and 'The Palace',... if you remember those from what seems like ages ago.

    Internet was more interesting back then imo. Commercialized to a fair thee well and not in a good way now*.

    oh well.

    *yes, we all need to make money, but dayum.

    1. goldcd

      There's still plenty of 'old' internet out there.

      I run a stupid little threaded message board I created to learn PHP. No access without a login (i.e no robots), full SSL, no ads, no tracking. Been running for a decade - first 5 years fixing the worst of the bugs when I could be bothered (or undersood them) and some silly features, last 5 no real maintenance apart from server cost which is covered by a few people chucking a few quid a month (which they seem happy to do).

      My point would be that a site doesn't need to make money. I've no issue with those that do, but if you hanker after some past idyll, it's probably still there if you want and if it isn't, there's nothing to stop you making it yourself, and it's easier today than it ever was.

      8.5 million posts, marriages, births, divorces and a few deaths commemorated (but mainly what people are having for lunch)

      1. Daniel B.

        Re: There's still plenty of 'old' internet out there.

        Indeed. I'm running and old-style BBS on a VPS that's costing me less than my monthly internet bill. No more hiding them in college or work servers. And IRC is still out there!

        1. gotes

          Re: There's still plenty of 'old' internet out there.

          I'm still using IRC after 20 or so years. It is still my favourite method of instant messaging as there's no stupid distractions like "apps" and photos. And as far as I'm aware the server admins don't care what I "like" and who I'm friends with.

          1. gotes

            Re: There's still plenty of 'old' internet out there.

            Oh, and for a blast from the past I recently installed MS Comic Chat... It had me in stitches because it's so ridiculous.

    2. frank ly

      @404 Re: I miss Dejanews

      I installed Palace Server on my laptop and had room pictures taken from my own home. If you clicked on the doors then you went into the adjacent room, or my garden. People were 'impressed' but my palace couldn't match the grandeur of most of the other ones. It was all a fun and learning experience. I found that you met people with social and conversation skills and some maturity in those days.

  2. ratfox
    Angel

    you can celebrate the sides of yourself that you don’t always show to your friends.

    …But that you are fine showing to Facebook…

  3. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    ""A room is a feed of photos, videos, and text – not too different from the one you have on Instagram or Facebook – with a topic determined by whoever created the room," wrote product manager Josh Miller."

    IRC even had that. Well, not photos and videos; but it does have DCC (and later extended version xdcc). You could tell your irc to send any file to a user, and that user would be asked if they wanted to accept this file. I only ever saw it used for warez (one could send the bot a request for a file, and it'd send it via DCC). irc is essentially text-based though, so letting the videos and pics drop in inline is a nice touch.

  4. zen1

    didn't yahoo do something like this 10 or 12 years ago? What about CompuServ?

  5. HMB

    New Era of Intrusion

    If I was Zuckerberg and wanted to take over the world this is exactly what I'd do to learn people's deepest secrets. I'm not sure if I'm horrified or deeply impressed.

    If people let their guard down on there neglecting to consider the machine analysis linked to their real identity...

    Forgive me for sounding like a member of the tinfoil hat brigade, but I just find it so hard to believe that they might not do that sort of machine monitored data dredging. I just find it too much to believe that the angle wont be exploited.

    It's like they carefully considered what the limitations were on all the worst things about facebook and found a way to find a new low.

  6. streaky

    Facebook

    Given how many of their employees crawl over freenode (see: technical staff) I distinctly doubt they just discovered it :)

  7. Aidan242

    1993 just called

    They wanted their ICMP unreach packets back... either that, or their takeover wars...

  8. Graham Marsden
    Big Brother

    "use pseudonyms in order to hide their identities from each other"

    But, I have little doubt, *NOT* from Facebook who will be monitoring and tracking and recording everything you do and say to monetise you, the product...

  9. codemonkey

    Ah! 'Ello!

    https://ello.co/manifesto

  10. Darryl
    FAIL

    "Early users have already created rooms for everything from beat boxing videos to parkour to photos of home-cooked meals."

    Wow. That REALLY makes me want to reactivate my FB account.

    </sarcasm>

  11. Will Godfrey Silver badge

    Poor me

    I'm trying to remember when there was something that really was new on 't Internet.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Isn't this like Whisper 2.0?

    Doesn't matter how anonymous I am to other Facebook users, Facebook will know who I am and will undoubtedly be collecting what I say and knowing I said it.

    If I anonymously revealed in confidence to anonymous friends that I'm into hardcore S&M, I'll bet I soon start to see Facebook ads for whips and "suggested posts" regarding a company that helps you build your own dungeon. Facebook wouldn't add something like this if they didn't see it as a way to further monetize you - now that they know everything public about their users, they want to know their secrets. They won't tell Facebook voluntarily, but they'll tell their friends, especially if they feel they have some level of anonymity, but doing so in this way will also be telling Facebook.

    Who's to say who Facebook might share this information with, deliberately or not? They were, after all, one of the companies who were voluntarily cooperating with the NSA spying. They also make all their money off selling personal information (i.e. as with Google, we are not their customers, we are their product) and to say Facebook has a spotty record on privacy is a huge understatement. At least Google pretends like they're sorry when they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Facebook acts like the customer is in the wrong for calling them out on their abuses!

  13. Lost In Clouds of Data
    Paris Hilton

    Just like IRC...

    ...except in this version Zuckerberg monetize it by flogging the data generated to its customers (aka advertisers).

    Hmm, no thanks.

    Paris, because this only someone as dense as her would think this is anything close to being as anonymous as IRC is...

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