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Is Facebook Becoming a Central Bank?

Posted by Soulskill on from the while-everyone-was-worrying-about-bitcoin dept.

wasimkadak sends this quote from an article at Forbes: "Facebook's 27-year-old founder, Mark Zuckerberg, isn't usually mentioned in the same breath as Ben Bernanke, the 58-year-old head of the Federal Reserve. But Facebook's early adventures in the money-creating business are going well enough that the central-bank comparison gets tempting. ... Initially, the Credits-based economy was confined to the virtual world’s trifles. Credits could be spent to buy imaginary gold bars for aficionados of Mafia Wars, or bouquets of virtual flowers for birthday postings on friends’ Facebook accounts. This new form of digital money was cute but essentially useless for mainstream activities. Lately Credits have become more intriguing. Warner Brothers this summer offered movie-goers a chance to watch Harry Potter and The Dark Knight for 30 Credits apiece. Miramax and Paramount countered with film-viewing offers, too. In a provocative post this week on Inside Facebook, guest blogger Peter Vogel argues that Credits in the next few years will become more of a true currency. Facebook's 800 million worldwide users represent a lot of buying power. He figures Credits could evolve into commercial mainstays for digital movies and music."

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  1. Off-topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Can anyone recommend a new slashdot-type site, hopefully one run by individuals (like slashdot used to be in the CmdrTaco and Hemos days), and dealing with tech, rather than social media froth and global warming bullshit?

    I've been on this site since before my 100k level account was registered and have a special place in my heart for it, but looking at the homepage, 8/10 of the stories are shite I don't care about. Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't think that's it.

    I miss the trolls.. GNAA, Trollaxor, OOG THE CAVEMAN...

    These days, all you can hope for is the odd story about something interesting, with ernest or intentionally-funny comments. None of the pizzaz of the olde days.

    So, recommendations? Comments? Questions?

    Fire away.