Meta doesn't seem concerned that users will abandon it for greener, less detritus-strewn pastures, with Facebook's Daily Active User count back on the upswing after experiencing its first ever decline late last year.Įven so, the ability to squeeze users for every ad-revenue dime is still struggling to mitigate the income hit Meta took from Apple's privacy policy update last year. We are all but money piñatas in the dead eyes of Big Tech.
Of course, there's also the side benefit for Meta that it already knows how to effectively monetise such algorithm-led content.
Earlier this week, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri addressed the widespread unpopularity of several of its changes, including the uptick in recommended posts, and reaffirmed that they're happening regardless.
Yet it seems Meta actually knows how much everyone despises them, and is determined to power through anyway. It would be bad enough if Meta was just ignorant to how hated these changes are. We expect these numbers to more than double by the end of next year." "Right now, about 15% of content in a person’s Facebook feed and a little more than that of their Instagram feed is recommended by our AI from people, groups, or accounts that you don’t follow. "One of the main transformations in our business right now is that social feeds are going from being driven primarily by the people and accounts you follow to increasingly also being driven by AI recommending content that you'll find interesting from across Facebook or Instagram, even if you don't follow those creators," said Zuckerberg in prepared remarks. However, Meta continues to ignore criticism and chase rival TikTok’s astronomical growth in short-form video - with Instagram’s head even stating that it is “no longer a photo-sharing app.” In the wake of the app’s changes, the “anti-Instagram” app BeReal has seen a surge in popularity in the last week.Why Zuckerberg DGAF about losing Facebook users The roll-out of the increasingly video-centric feed has led many users to condemn the app for “trying to be like TikTok.” Given the backlash against Instagram’s recent changes, the move is likely to be an unpopular one. The shift is intended to compete with TikTok’s heavy use of AI to serve up videos regardless of where they come from. The push, which Zuckerberg calls building the “Discovery Engine,” is a radical departure from Facebook’s and Instagram’s historical focus on showing posts from a user’s social graph or list of friends. In spite of all the upcoming changes, Zuckerberg assures investors on the call that Meta is “still ultimately a social company focused on helping people connect.” A viral poster circulating Instagram this week