The recent outpouring of information from the Facebook Files Expose, which was brought to light through leaked documents by former Facebook staffer Frances Haugen, revealed that there is an insight that surpasses even Instagram allegedly being labeled as “detrimental to younger users” and Facebook’s heightened consideration for high-profile users.

What is potentially the biggest insight gleaned from the investigation, at least in a broader business sense, was a note from Haugen’s pre-prepared testimony in lieu of her appearance before a panel of the Senate Consumer Protection Group.

The note read:

“Facebook has failed to disclose internal data showing a contraction of the user base in important demographics, including American teenagers and young adults. The company has also hidden the extent to which content production per user has been in long-term decline.”

Of course, along with the claim, Haugen was prepared to back it up with proof. And provide proof she did. Besides her testimony, Haugen also showed empirical research statistics revealing that the platform’s teen and young adult daily active user (DAU) was in steep decline. In fact, it seemed to have been in decline ever since 2013.

MySpace: In Memoriam

Despite this revelation, it would seem that the truth had already been known even before Haugen decided to speak out. To put it bluntly, it came as no surprise, seeing as how Facebook lost its mojo years ago. Facebook, like MySpace before it, recognized that in order to maintain long-term appeal, it needed to attract younger users. With this, the platform’s odds of remaining attractive in the future have gone from gray to bleak.

Nonetheless, one of the most notable key findings was Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. In 2012, Facebook purchased what is now known as the “#1 image-sharing app in the world” as a form of damage control for its dwindling popularity among the youth. It may have appeared to be a desperate act, and it was, but it was deemed necessary by Facebook in order to keep in touch with the kids. Facebook was also interested in acquiring Snapchat, but Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was adamantly opposed.

For a time, Instagram did well under Facebook’s wing. It went from 50 million users to a billion, a feat that took a little over five years to achieve and has not been regularly updated since. Despite being the most famous image-focused platform to date, do underlying implications point to Instagram now also having stagnated appeal to younger generations? With TikTok gaining ground and fast, what does it spell in terms of usage trends for Facebook and its constituents?

The answers to this are yet uncertain, but Haugen did have this to say:

“For years, Facebook has misrepresented core metrics to investors and advertisers including the amount of content produced on its platforms and the growth in individual users.”

In short, Facebook only reports what it chooses to keep smelling like a basket of roses.

The Wrap

It has been found that Facebook only shares data on its ‘Family’ of apps usage and not platform-specific usage data, alluding to certain important profiling information. Take this for example; Facebook reports that it’s unique-user base has grown from 2.76 billion to 3.51 billion, which is around 750 million new users in the last two years. Based on Facebook-specific statistics, of the 750, 481 million were attributed directly to Facebook, with the remaining 269 being spread across all its other channels. Not the most stellar growth, considering TikTok took roughly a little under three years to reach a billion users.

However, all is not lost for Facebook. While it may continue to lose ground for younger folk, the company is still lined up to generate around $100 billion in terms of annual revenue. It may not be the same “hip” and “cool” platform to be on. Still, none can dispute its technological capability as it continues to expand into more regions and penetrate new markets and industries.

What is most essential today is that the company recognizes the potential stumbling blocks it may encounter and corrects and never repeats whatever faults were highlighted.

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Sources

https://bit.ly/3BdKWVU