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Facebook Shuts Down @Facebook Email System

Posted by timothy on from the shot-in-the-dark-went-wild dept.

First time accepted submitter beaker_72 writes "The BBC are reporting that Facebook will end their email system which provided users an @Facebook.com email address in March. The official line from Facebook is that not many people have been using the service. Is that really the case or have they found it too challenging to monetize that part of their service? Did users stay away from this 'service' because they've become more savvy and recognized it for what it was — another way to harvest their data? Or is it the case that the market is currently saturated with free webmail services and there wasn't room for another one?"

43 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Because people already have E-mail addresses? by mlts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm guessing that since FB requires an existing E-mail address to sign up, having @facebook.com would be redundant... not to mention the lack of a really decent E-mail client.

    1. Re:Because people already have E-mail addresses? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What's really annoying about it is the way they started by forcing people to use it as their contact address, and then those people suckered by their abuse now have people trying to reach them with a now-inactive system.

      It's the same basic problem with any website that tries to force it's "neat new features" on users. Youtube and googleplus is a similar thing. When google plus inevitably fails(and it will), they're going to have to go through an elaborate shutdown process that impinges on all the other google services people use.

      The point I'm trying to make(and no it won't reach anyone that needs to hear it, Dice) is to stop pretending your existing userbase will love and use your new services just because you tell them to.

    2. Re: Because people already have E-mail addresses? by samkass · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, judging by the popularity of Gmail, people being concerned with their data being harvested doesn't seem to be a concern at all. I think it was just plain executed badly.

      --
      E pluribus unum
    3. Re: Because people already have E-mail addresses? by Albanach · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Many users have been stung over the years by changing ISP and losing their email address. Or by not changing ISP, but their ISP changing their name and their email address going out the window.

      I think most people have a hard time seeing Google or Gmail disappearing from the face of the internet. And for those that are concerned, they can use their own domain on Gmail.

      However users may be less certain of Facebook's long term position. After all, look at where ICQ, MySpace, LiveJournal and the others are today. Maybe this is just a recognition by Facebook's own user base that they're happy to stick around for so long as Facebook is where things are happening, but that they have no great ties to the site and don't necessarily want to create them either.

    4. Re: Because people already have E-mail addresses? by mcgrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Gmail took off because its interface was so much better than anyone else's webmail. I got my present webmail address when I kept losing my address when changing ISPs. Since I can use Thunderbird for a client for it, why in thw world would I want to change it? Especially since there's not only no compelling reason to, there's no reason to at all.

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
    5. Re:Because people already have E-mail addresses? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Google+ isn't failing. Not by a long shot. It has features FB wishes it had. The issue with G+ that most people have, is that it isn't for announcing your latest bowel movement of Beibergasm of the day. Let the kiddies play on Facebook and twitter.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:Because people already have E-mail addresses? by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What I don't like is Google trying to force me to make a Google+ account, and even get a little sneaky about it.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    7. Re: Because people already have E-mail addresses? by stdarg · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not only did they have a better interface, they offered a ridiculous (at the time) amount of space. I used to use Yahoo mail, then they imposed a cap of 2MB (I think), and you had to pay to up that to 10MB. Gmail came out swinging at 1GB.

    8. Re:Because people already have E-mail addresses? by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 3, Informative

      It just forwards all the e-mails to your @facebook.com address to your reigstered address now.

      --

      Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

    9. Re: Because people already have E-mail addresses? by loufoque · · Score: 4, Informative

      No.
      Gmail took off because it provided a free POP3/IMAP email service with a large storage capacity.

    10. Re:Because people already have E-mail addresses? by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's the same basic problem with any website that tries to force it's "neat new features" on users. Youtube and googleplus is a similar thing. When google plus inevitably fails(and it will), they're going to have to go through an elaborate shutdown process that impinges on all the other google services people use.

      Google's not going to shut down Google+. In fact, Google+ is central to their business. Google has admitted the main reason for G+ is to collect more user information. Given the unified privacy policy, the fact that Google can now track you through your use of its various products adds a ton of valuable information. And even if you don't "use" a G+ account, your use through YouTube etc, and those G+ buttons is monitored.

      So no, G+ is NOT going to go away, because it's central to Google's business. Google even admits that while some people find it creepy, as long as they remain "good", they can get away with a ton of things.

    11. Re:Because people already have E-mail addresses? by Gonoff · · Score: 2

      Do You have a Google account? Then you have Google+.
      Do you have a Gmail address? Then you have Google+.
      Do you have access to any Google service that is specifically yours (even search)? Then you have Google+.and every other service

      It's all one big system. Some services are restricted by location - Google Music for example. If you have one service, you do not have to sign up for anything else. Just sign in. There's nothing sneaky about it. If you don't want some, don't use them. If you don't have anything in Google Music, you don't have to listen to it. If you don't post on Google+ I promise not to reply...

      --
      I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
  2. You had me at by korbulon · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Facebook Shuts Down."

    Alas, two years too soon.

    1. Re:You had me at by jandrese · · Score: 2

      AOL is still around. Companies can linger for a long time after they stop being relevant, especially ones that have a ton of cash on hand. Granted, I don't know how many more 18 billion dollar purchases Zuckerburg can make before they start having cashflow problems, but they don't appear to be hurting at the moment.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
  3. Email is an alternative to facebook by timeOday · · Score: 2
    Why I don't like facebook is because my family used to exchange personal updates by email, which I liked. When they joined facebook, that stopped. I don't want to be on facebook, so by not joining I shut myself out. This kind of pressure is exactly what makes facebook so viral.

    When facebook was an upstart, playing nice with the status quo (email) benefitted them. Now facebook is the status quo, so alternatives do not benefit them.

    1. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by i+kan+reed · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, the email-facebook dichotomy really describes the changes in the web over the last few years.

      Standardized tech-based distributed solution without central planning to centralized, secretive, over-advertized, manipulative hyper-corporate sites.

      SEO and web 2.0 were poison pills that are killing the actual utility of the internet as a collection of content and systems in favor of "content providers" like facebook.

    2. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by StripedCow · · Score: 2

      When my family subscribed to a plain old telephone service, they stopped visiting me. I didn't want to subscribe to Ma Bell. So by not joining, I shut myself out.
      Fortunately, the U.S. Justice Department split the monopoly and required the telephone companies to play nice with eachother.

      --
      If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
    3. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by DarwinSurvivor · · Score: 2

      It's more like, "When my family switched from Verizon[1] to AT&T[1], they stopped calling me, but I don't want to switch to AT&T[1] because they tap my phone and are all-around douchebags. By not getting an AT&T[1] phone, I've shut myself out". Luckily the government mandates that they be compatible, unlike Facebook which can do whatever the hell it wants[2].

      [1] I have no direct opinion of either Verizon or AT&T in this respect and the use of their names was simply because they were the first 2 well-known operators that came to mind.

      [2] I do not believe that Facebook should be restricted in what it can and cannot do (at least as far as compatibility goes), I'm just trying to illustrate the difference between a website and a phone system.

    4. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by StripedCow · · Score: 2

      I do not believe that Facebook should be restricted in what it can and cannot do (at least as far as compatibility goes)

      In general, I am with you.
      However, once an internet company reaches the point where it facilitates mass-communication, there should be rules. See the telephone example to see how things go wrong otherwise.

      --
      If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
    5. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by MightyYar · · Score: 3

      I'm one of those people who likes Facebook specifically because I no longer have to maintain an address book or worry about who to include on what emails. Just throw it all out there and let people who care read it. I wish Facebook weren't proprietary, but I'm not going to be a zealot about it - when it dies I'll just move on to the next thing.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    6. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by ynp7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Until this story, I didn't know anyone who remembered that Facebook email was a thing.

    7. Re:Email is an alternative to facebook by timeOday · · Score: 2

      That is why I DON'T like facebook. When I am sending a message to specific people, the focus is on whatever concerns us both. If I were just broadcasting information about myself for my (presumed) interested audience on Facebook, that interaction is no longer about our relationship, instead the only common factor is ME ME ME.

  4. Lack of marketing by tangent3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How many people even know they had a free @facebook.com email address?

  5. Could it be because of access issues? by Kevin108 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would think most people have little use for an e-mail address that cannot be accessed from work.

    --

    It's a perfect time for being wasted.
    A perfect time to watch the stars.
    - Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. For once they aren't lying by redmid17 · · Score: 2

    No one uses the FB email address? Why would they when they need a valid email to sign up already?

  8. Facebook Shuts Down... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    A thrill of hope. Drat.

  9. Re:They harvest enough private, personal info by edibobb · · Score: 2

    Ice cream? Nobody told me I could get ice cream!!

  10. Data mining? Sure... but what about mobile foray? by ProjectArcturus · · Score: 2

    The Facebook phone flopped, or so I assume since I haven't heard about it in over a year. Think back to when it came out: Microsoft had the Live accounts back then, obviously there are your Google accounts for Droids, Apple iCloud accounts for iPhones, etc. If Facebook had more penetration into the cell phone market, maybe the idea of a Facebook-central account that starts off as your email makes more sense? Again, I knew little about the Facebook phone, so just conjecture. Buying WhatsApp seems to be a sign they're steering the ship in a slightly different direction, moving away from any hopes of the above.

  11. FB had email? by ripvlan · · Score: 3, Funny

    ah - now I know why I haven't been getting email all of these years.

  12. Re:Do we get our original contacts back? by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

    No. You got "embraced and extended".

  13. Professional Email Address by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am sorry a Facebook.com email address is rather unprofessional, unless you actually work at Facebook.

    Why is Facebook.com more unprofessional then say gmail.com?
    Well for one, Facebook is in generally more informal, it is all about gossip and keeping contacts with your friends. While you use Google for real work too.

    For your personal email it still needs a degree of professionalism, because that is what is going to be on your resume, and with other non-work related business contact.
    Your work email isn't that good because you can change jobs and your email goes away.
    The same if you use your ISP's email address.

    Hotmail.com, AOL.com, Yahoo.com all still work too. However you can sometimes seem dated.

    outlook.com could work too, but you seem like a Microsoftie.

    I myself prefer to have my own domain name, then link it to whatever email service that I like a the time.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Professional Email Address by mlts · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I found that people judge you by your domain.

      Custom domain -- professional.

      @gmail/yahoo/hotmail -- hack.

      You also get what you pay for. I pay for Exchange hosted E-mail for my "professional" account, and get top tier reliability... and nobody sifting through the mailbox for ads.

      Of course, I do use the "free" E-mails. Might as well have all the FB stuff go somewhere, but if it is anything but junk, a "real" E-mail address is important, just like going to an interview for an IT position wearing proper clothing and not liquid latex and chain mail.

    2. Re:Professional Email Address by FuegoFuerte · · Score: 2

      If you judge people based on their choice of free or low-cost email provider then you, sir, are the hack. I've been using Yahoo email since they bought Geocities (and used Geocities email before that, as back in the day they were the only ones to offer pop3/smtp access for free).

      In all those years, there have only been a few noticeable outages, mostly very short-term. Their service is fast, reliable, and they keep making improvements. Why would I switch?

    3. Re:Professional Email Address by DerekLyons · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Do you also judge people by whether or not their home address is in a fashionable neighborhood? Whether their 'casual Friday' shirt comes from L.L. Bean or Wal-Mart?

      Seriously, I imagine there are more inane and shallow things to just people on than their email address... but it can't be a long list.

    4. Re:Professional Email Address by CCarrot · · Score: 2

      I found that people judge you by your domain.

      Custom domain -- professional.

      @gmail/yahoo/hotmail -- hack.

      You read the Oatmeal too, don't you?

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    5. Re:Professional Email Address by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

      If the email is for personal use, then no, it really doesn't matter.

      If you're trying to sell yourself as a professional, then using a free email service *does* come across as unprofessional. Why? Because you can whip off a free email address in 5 minutes with no effort. You don't need to have put any thought into it beforehand, and you look like a potential fly-by-night service.

      By simple virtue of the fact that someone has their own domain names, instantly says that they are at least trying for the long haul. Or at least, there's a significantly greater chance that they are.

      Generally speaking, the harder it is to set something up speaks to how seriously a person takes said something.

    6. Re:Professional Email Address by DerekLyons · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The amazing thing is that, like all people with ignorant biases, you actually think these are reasonable statements.

  14. It never worked? Functionally, really, never... by plik · · Score: 2

    When they launched this feature I was very curious how the integration would work, so I sent myself test emails from a few accounts. I never got them. I tried maybe a year (?) later? I also never got them. So I would consider that to be somewhat of a patent failure.

  15. Re:They harvest enough private, personal info by c-A-d · · Score: 2

    That linkedin stuff really burns my bacon. Everytime I log in, they beg me to let them log into my Gmail account so they can find more "connections" for me.

    No. Just because someone is in my email address book does NOT mean they are someone I want to connect with on a business level.

    --
    some karma... and kinda lukewarm about it.
  16. Re:Email use on the decline in general by aussiedood · · Score: 2

    Definatly not true.

    Really? The trend has been downward for a number of years for everyone below the age of 55, a much as 59% for teens. For those older than 55 there is an upward trend, but overall the trend is down. http://www.bostonglobe.com/bus... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12... http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/...

  17. email is so 10 minutes ago by gelfling · · Score: 2

    Tweets and Snapchat are the pushing the attention span envelope at this point.

  18. None of the above by R.Mo_Robert · · Score: 2

    Nobody used it because it sucked. My recollection is that it was basically another way to use Facebook Chat at first, around the same time that Chat and Messages were confusingly combined into one. I read a comment above that says it just forwards it to your registered e-mail address now. Regardless of whether they were able to monetize it or not, I can't see the appeal, and I bet nobody relied on it.

    --
    R.Mo