Warner Bros. began offering films directly to Facebook users this week, starting with the 2008 film "The Dark Knight," and Facebook became a marketplace for actual goods instead of virtual ones.
Apparently, though, the announcement seemed to be a death knell for Neflix, whose stock took a tumble at the news. Peter Kafka on AllThingsD took time to admonish investors who unloaded their Netflix shares for their weak stomachs and school them on how Facebook works. "Facebook won’t let people buy physical items with Facebook Credits–just digital goods. And if I understand the company correctly, it won’t even let you download the goods you buy," Kafka wrote . "You’ve got to consume them on the site itself."
Basically, Facebook is trying to take over the virtual world and doesn't have the time to concentrate on tiny little Netflix. The movie rental service by Warner Bros. is available only on its Facebook page and not a Facebook-inspired venture.
I guess the blowback was so fierce that TechCrunch felt the need to write a piece about articles that "misinterpret the extent of Facebook’s involvement" with the Warner Bros. announcement. "Gasp! What fools these non-TechCrunch reporters be! It's up to use to make all the stupid readers smart again!"
I'm not sure there was some crazy-eyed reporting conspiracy, considering Press: Here's post was hardly controversial and factually correct, but if you were confused -- I'm sure it's all been sorted out for you now.
