In 2022, Facebook’s cultural relevance began to wane, prompting Meta executives to explore various visions for the platform’s future. Even as Instagram and WhatsApp have both thrived, the question mark over the future of Facebook has been alarming. Yet even with continued high twice-daily usage across the world, the platform’s relevance seems to be crashing down at a dizzying pace.
Indeed, this week Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO warned investors that the “Friends” based, structure of Facebook was relic created twenty years ago. He pointed out that today’s social networks tend more and more toward a model based on “following” rather than “friending.” This change has indeed caused Facebook to question who they are and how they fit in an increasingly competitive social media ecosystem.
Zuckerberg acknowledged the pressing issue during internal discussions, stating, “Even though the FB app’s engagement is steady in many places, it feels like its cultural relevance is decreasing quickly and I worry that this may be a leading indicator of future health issues.” This sentiment reflects a broader understanding among Meta’s leadership that the platform’s longstanding approach may no longer resonate with users.
The CEO proposed a radical idea to rejuvenate Facebook’s standing: “One potentially crazy idea is to consider wiping everyone’s graphs and having them start again.” Even Zuckerberg himself admits that the current friend graph is a mistake. This decaying network is preventing users from making lasting connections with each other.
As a reaction to these challenges, Facebook just released a new version of its Friends tab and is clearly looking to make it part of the solution. Zuckerberg said that doesn’t mean it’s enough to retouch the interface. He thinks that having your own distinct vision for the app is crucial to long term growth. “I want to make sure we have a unique vision for the FB app that can lead to sustainable growth over time,” he stated.
That cultural relevance issue is exacerbated by the heavyweight ask for friend connections on the platform. It can be especially difficult for new users to find and add friends. This challenge further compounds the challenge for Facebook to recruit and retain users in an intensely competitive and ever-evolving social media ecosystem. Zuckerberg’s reasoning indicates that “friending doesn’t seem to be in style today for at least a few reasons. This means that most people’s friend graphs are frozen in time. They fail to reach the people they really want to hear from or engage with.
Meta executives have even admitted that the platform’s current structure is unsustainable and needs to change to align with what today’s users want. Zuckerberg remarked, “It feels to me like the FB app’s position in cultural relevance is deeply tied to the friend graph structure as opposed to other organizing principles — for example, IG/Twitter-style follow graphs, TikTok-style pure algorithmic approach, Groups/Reddit-style communities, etc.” This realization underscores the critical need for Facebook to reconfigure its business model to meet the needs of its users.
The company’s original vision is a guiding north star in an overwhelming and rapidly changing environment. Zuckerberg outlined the case for a policy approach focused on making sure that neither Facebook nor any of its competitive alternatives get left behind. “I think we need to find a strategy that doesn’t leave one service picking up the scraps the other service leaves behind or having either service artificially or unreasonably constrain itself,” he explained.
Leave a Reply