Facebook says it is not dead. The social media giant also wants you to know that it is not just for “old people”, as young people have been saying for years. In a lengthy blog post on Tuesday, Facebook lays out a persuasive case that it isn’t dead. But the company also confirms what you probably have already figured out: The social network has moved on from its original focus of catching up with people you know.
Rather than connecting with family and friends, Facebook says that more users come to the platform to be entertained. As a result, the company is investing more in AI-powered discovery on Facebook.
“We believe our combination of simple-to-use formats, easy access to your most important audiences, and world-class AI that can deliver content to the people who will appreciate it the most—will make Facebook the best place for social discovery and sharing.”
For younger generations – those who signed up in middle school, or those who are now in middle school, it is decidedly not the place to be. Without this trend-setting demographic, Facebook, still the main source of revenue for Meta, risks fading into the background – utilitarian but boring, like email.
It was not always like this. For nearly a decade, Facebook was the place to be, the cultural touchstone, the thing constantly referenced in daily conversations and late-night TV, it’s founding even the subject of a Hollywood movie.
“Over the last nearly 20 years, people have come to Facebook for lots of things, including to see what’s going on with their friends, family, and groups where meaningful connection happens. There has been a shift in the last couple of years with people coming to Facebook more to be entertained, discover something new, or see what’s going on in the world. These new reasons are why we are investing in AI-powered discovery.“
Positioning himself as a visionary, Zuckerberg refused to sell Facebook and pushed his company through the mobile revolution.
While some rivals emerged, they generally petered out as Facebook soared, seemingly unstoppable despite scandals over user privacy and a failure to address hate speech and misinformation adequately. It reached a billion daily users in 2015.
“An important part of our work on AI-powered recommendations to connect you to people you want to know or should know is fueling creator discovery on Facebook. It’s a great time to be a creator. Creators have a lot of options these days, and while Facebook isn’t always creators’ primary platform, it’s an important app for creators to be on as they continue their journey — offering the opportunity to reach a large global audience, to connect safely and more deeply with their communities and to access one of the most effective slates of monetization offerings of any creator app.”
In addition to planned improvements to AI discovery, Facebook says it will make it easier to find creators whose content you’ll enjoy. It also plans to roll out more enhancements to its short-form video tools.
Finally, Facebook also plans to integrate messaging into more parts of the platform. Part of this will include reintroducing the ability to access your Messenger DMs from within the Facebook app.
Despite the popular view that Facebook is on its way out, the platform seems to be achieving growth despite this perception. So expect the company to lean into content recommendations and surfacing Reels more, not less.
“We’re heavily invested in building tools for creators. We’ve been working to greatly simplify the Facebook experience for creators, rolling out more formats for creative expression, providing tools to help grow and manage fan communities, and expanding ways to earn income as a creator on Facebook.”
Head of Meta Tom Alison says the company’s focus in 2023 will be on artificial intelligence, messaging, creators, and monetization.
AI shouldn’t be a surprise and everybody likes making money, but on the messaging front, Alison says Facebook is testing the ability for people to access their Messenger inbox within the Facebook app.
“At Meta, we pride ourselves on putting people at the center of new technology trends. Our investments in AI are unlocking new ways for people to discover great new content on the platform and share it with the people they care about. As our world-class Meta AI research teams continue to make advancements in AI, particularly generative AI, Facebook — and Meta more broadly — will look to bring this transformative technology to billions of people and allow them to create and share in new ways. Stay tuned.”
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