Let’s talk about Facebook. Created in 2004 by a young Mark Zuckerberg, the platform revolutionized global connectivity. Although the history of social networks is very short (barely 20 years, approximately), there is a platform that has seen other networks fall; that he has learned to circumvent the changes in the market; who has known how to adapt; but, above all, that has remained in force through the years: Facebook.
Now that I put it in perspective, as I write these lines, Facebook has been around for three different decades: 2004-2009, 2010-2019 and 2020 to 2022. Perhaps, except for Linkedin, there is no other network as long-lived. And so valid.
Although it is true that the digital behavior of the centennial generation no longer includes the use of Facebook on a regular basis, there is a very large generational niche that continues to use this network. I actually believe that, going a few years ahead of time, FB will be a network used only by those who knew it in its golden days.
The Meta Slowdown
The Meta conglomerate posted the slowest revenue growth this year in recent years. Furthermore, according to its own report, for the first time in its history, there was a decrease in active users, going from 1,930 million to 1,929 million at the end of the last quarter of 2021. At this point, we cannot say that it is facing a serious crisis, but these numbers tell us something: users are beginning to move to other platforms, little by little.
Facebook advertising
The influence of the giant of social networks has been very great, mainly for brands and/or small businesses. For the scope of its advertising and the way it has helped many entrepreneurs to take off their sales. And when everything was going well and advertising was generating more than ever, something unexpected happened: the privacy policies of iOS 14 arrived and there was a stir within advertising: suddenly the campaigns began to be less effective and, although some brands have been restored, I have heard within the industry that some colleagues and companies plan to move their investments to other platforms due to the poor results of it.
Facebook seeks to rejuvenate
One of the main features that Facebook has defended is the interaction between friends. It is on this that the first changes in the NewsFeed, so that more relevant publications from your friends, family, acquaintances appeared. A few years ago, it changed everything to show content of relevance and closeness, the famous algorithm called Edge Rank.
But, given the change in user behavior through other networks, Facebook announced a few days ago one of its most significant changes in recent years: it will be possible to change NewsFeed to make it chronological and to be able to see posts from other people who don’t necessarily belong to your network. Something similar to what happens in the “For you” of TikTok.
For Facebook, renew or die has a new meaning in the midst of a generational change and an imminent change in the digital behaviors of new users. We will have to wait to see if these changes work out or not.