It looks like the major social media platforms are self-destructing.
I can’t remember a week where so much seemed to go off the rails for social media companies.
Over at Twitter, Elon Musk finally took ownership, started tweeting conspiracy theories that shook the platform and then teased a new paid model that didn’t go over well at all. It feels like an episode of Succession. It’s safe to say chaos will be the new normal over on Twitter, which is of course exactly not what advertisers want in a platform.
Meta’s (Facebook) commitment to creating the metaverse sent the stock down 20% and Reuters reported that the company has lost HALF A TRILLION dollars in value this year. Much of that is thanks to Apple which changed its privacy rules in a major hit to Meta’s business model.
Instagram is experiencing a large outage resulting in many users, myself included, being locked out of their accounts for over 24 hours. Even though it’s being reported as resolved, it’s clearly not.
All of this against the worrying (for people running social media companies) backdrop that Gen Z just might not be that into social media.
What are they into? TikTok. Like the old person I am, I’ve finally really begun to dig into TikTok over the last few months and it’s obvious to see why this is where younger users are going. The algorithm for suggesting videos is better, creators get way more views on the videos (in part I’m sure thanks to the algorithm), the vibe is playful and it’s just VERY addictive, giving you hit after hit after hit of dopamine with every new video it serves up. Even the Dad Jokes are good.
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I remember about 8 years ago the publishers of a medium size website lamenting to me that you had to now pay to promote posts on Facebook to get any traffic at all. Gone were the days of organic traffic from Facebook and link love from other publishers. Today, that seems like such a quaint thought. At least in my world, paying to promote posts on Facebook and Twitter are no longer musts. Both platforms have relinquished their necessity over the last few years.
Are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram flaming out? No, I doubt it, but this spectacle really does make it look like they’re trying to do just that.
I think Meta has a communication problem, Zuckerberg cannot perform well in public and he reminds me of the Windows 95 launch show with Gates and Balmer ackwardly dancing on the stage.