Socializing is coming to an end? The Economist pointed out that algorithms allow people to live in the stratosphere and make it difficult to connect to the world, but Meta's recent earnings report has also increased, including Facebook and Instagram, and the "end of socialization" seems to be premature.
Meta's social media **Facebook, celebrated its 20th birthday on February 4, but the cover story of the latest issue of The Economist pointed out that Facebook has been riddled with controversy recently, like an arrogant young man trying to break the status quo.
You've got blood on your hands, and your products are killing people," Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, told Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO and Facebook founder, during a Jan. 31 Senate hearing.
According to the analysis of The Economist, although social ** attracts a lot of attention from the outside world, at the same time, it is also undergoing a strong and little-known transformation: social ** was originally to allow individuals to connect with the outside world, but now it is separated.
To put it simply, the status update of friends on the dynamic wall has been replaced by strangers, and posts in public have gradually shifted to a closed stratosphere, and social ** is no longer so "social".
The status update of friends on the dynamic wall has been replaced by strangers' **, and posts in public have gradually shifted to the closed stratosphere, and social ** is no longer so "social". （source：unsplash）
Shaped by algorithms, social networking disconnects the individual from the outside? Influenced by TikTok's fame with its algorithms, Facebook and other social networks have followed suit, using AI to analyze users' behavior, rather than social relationships, to push what users are interested in.
At the same time, the number of people posting on the walls is also decreasing, and since 2020, the number of Americans who post has dropped from 40% to 28%, and people are moving to closed instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
In addition, there is a lack of real news on social media.
Zuckerberg has said he wants Facebook to be like a "personalized newspaper," but social media is becoming more and more entertaining, with news content accounting for only 3% of the walls, and in 2018, 26% of people shared news every week, but now only 19% are left.
Zuckerberg has said he wants Facebook to be like a "personalized newspaper," but social media is becoming more and more entertaining, with news content accounting for only 3% of the dynamic wall. （source：flickr/anthony quintanocc by 2.0）
Meta's earnings performance is good, and social ** still has potentialIs social ** really going into decline? Meta doesn't think so.
According to the Associated Press, Meta announced its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2023 on February 1, driven by digital advertising business growth, cost cutting and layoffs, Meta's profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 tripled, and even distributed dividends for the first time, and the stock price soared 21 after hours on the 2nd7%。
Technology analyst Debra Aho Williamson said: "Meta still has the ability to continue to develop AI and the metaverse, but its main revenue still comes from advertising revenue, and advertisers still love Meta." ”
Meta said: "2023 is a critical year for us, as we strengthen operational discipline, provide the best products and services, and improve advertising performance. ”
Notably, the number of users of Meta's apps has also increased, with 39 monthly active users of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp by the end of 2023800 million, an increase of 6% over 2022, of which, Facebook's monthly active users reached 30700 million, an annual increase of 3%.
The number of users of Meat's apps has also increased, reaching 39 monthly active users on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp by the end of 2023800 million. （source：unsplash）
Meta also expects revenue in the first quarter of 2024 to fall between $34.5 billion and $37 billion, higher than Wall Street analysts' $33.9 billion.
Although the layoffs saved 22% of personnel expenses, Meta expects this part of the expenditure to be higher in 2024, because Meta will offer high salaries to recruit more AI experts in order to compete with other tech giants.
Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, analyzed that Meta's ambition to become an AI leader is clear, and investors and advertisers will respond.
However, Meta still has a difficult task ahead of it," Engberg said, "that is, how to combine AI and the metaverse." ”
At the same time, Engberg mentioned that the withdrawal of Chinese advertisers could be a headwind to Meta's advertising business, and if Meta's advertising business is in trouble, investors may not be able to ignore the mounting losses of Reality Labs, which specializes in mixed-reality technology and products.
Meta's financial performance revealed that social ** still exists, but how much gas is left in the tank remains to be proven by time.
Header image**: Unsplash).