I have never posted publicly to Venmo and I don’t understand why this would be a feature anyone, anywhere actually wants. Who I give how much money to for what reason isn’t anyone’s business but mine and the IRS’s. Maybe I’m not in tune with the kids these days but the public stream seems to exist only for people to mistakenly post to without realizing everyone can see their transactions.
Idea Man: Hey boss, I have an idea for a new personal payment app.<p>Boss: So what, those are a dime a dozen.<p>Idea Man: Yea boss, but this one has THE SOCIAL!<p>Boss: OOOH, we need THE SOCIAL!<p>---<p>How I imagine the pitch for Venmo went.
People want to, and choose to, broadcast what they are doing and who they are doing it with. This shouldn't be news to people. Why do people have public Instagram and Twitter accounts? Some will see no appeal and are turned off by the thought of this, but for others it's their way of life. So instead of criticizing the app, maybe what you really want to do is criticize the people using the app? Lastly, clicking "private" on a post is dead simple; the company shouldn't be forced to change the default setting that differentiates them because somebody can't figure that out. Come on.
Public By Default is an amazing investigation into one year of Venmo data available on the public API
<a href="http://publicbydefault.fyi/" rel="nofollow">http://publicbydefault.fyi/</a>
This kind of useless feature set is why Cash App is starting to eclipse Venmo in usage. [0]<p>It's why I originally started using CA... simple interface, no useless social feature. Just send money, boom.<p>Now they've added Bitcoin purchases (the easiest and quickest way to buy and send to hardware wallet) and Boosts which (inexplicably) give you huge discounts like $1 off <i>every</i> coffee you purchase at a coffee shop. [1]<p>No brainer to use CA over alternatives.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/nomura-instinet-square-cash-app-is-growing-faster-than-venmo.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/nomura-instinet-square-cash-...</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.cultofmac.com/532069/square-cash-coffee-reward-program/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cultofmac.com/532069/square-cash-coffee-reward-p...</a>
I have not used Venmo. Can someone explain the user experience around this? Does it happen just by doing a transaction or is it like posting something on social media with an audience dropdown box or something?
Mozilla should make all of their Firefox telemetry, Pocket ads and sponsored content, sponsored Mr. Robot addons that automatically install, Cliqz spyware, etc. opt-in before they talk about the defaults of other companies. Mozilla have no shame.
A couple of decades ago I could not even imagine that in around 2020 people will create a petition for a <i>default setting</i>. Still looking for a better name for this phenomena, since what I have in mind seems too offensive.
What is the business case for their making transactions public? Venmo can still mine and sell user data without it being public. I believe they can also use the FB social graph api without transactions being public as well. Am I missing something obvious?
Next to every transaction is a drop down menu. That menu allows you to select "Private." This doesn't seem like something Mozilla needs to involve themselves in, especially with all the privacy snafus of their own.