[imagesource: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

I don’t remember the last time I was on Facebook.

Well, I do, but I hurried right off because all I saw was a distant relative posting about COVID-19 being a lie, an old schoolmate sharing some tragedy about animal abuse, and borderline racist comments from members of my community group.

Not a good experience.

It appears as though I am not the only one who doesn’t enjoy what Facebook is serving up these days.

The news is overflowing with headlines about how the social media giant has seen its daily active users (DAUs) drop for the first time in 18 years.

Facebook has always been a platform that gets bigger, with user growth continuing unabated for nigh on two decades.

But a new page has been turned, one that shows Zuck’s social platform losing global daily users, as well as lower-than-expected ad growth that sent its stock plunging roughly 20%.

This massive stock drop instantly wiped off roughly $200 billion in market value.

I guess the corporate rebranding to Meta hasn’t worked out as planned, as investors are seeing through the name change and identifying the core problems of the business.

The decline in users is not only hitting Facebook, but Meta’s other platforms – Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.

The Verge has the numbers and reasons:

That drop to 1,929 billion daily users from 1,93 billion the prior quarter is likely a reflection of Facebook’s increasing lack of relevance with young people.

Meta doesn’t break out Instagram’s user numbers, but daily users across all of its apps barely nudged higher to 2,82, adding just 10 million users from the third quarter.

Sales growth has also been hurt as younger audiences are leaving for social media rivals with more to offer, like TikTok and YouTube.

I was sitting near some teens of the Gen Z variety not so long ago when I overheard one asking his mate how Facebook worked, and that’s just here in South Africa.

Shame.

Somehow, though, Meta is still pretty profitable, having made around $40 billion in profit last year through advertising.

However, the whole Metaverse shtick is not yet contributing on that front:

But it’s also losing billions on Reality Labs, the division responsible for the Quest VR headset, VR software, forthcoming AR glasses, and other metaverse-related initiatives.

That division lost $10,2 billion last year and reported revenue of $2,3 billion — a stat that includes sales of the Quest and its cut of VR app purchases.

The BBC called Zuckerberg’s Metaverse a “pipedream” for the moment:

Perhaps the answer to Meta’s immediate problems would be to buy TikTok? Well US regulators would never allow that due to anti-competition laws.

And Facebook is now seen by many in Silicon Valley as a poisonous brand. It’s certainly not a cool place to work in the same way it was say ten years ago.

There’s no attracting fresh talent with that association in the tech world.

Does this mean that the new direction that Facebook will go is down?

Hey, I am not complaining. The less social media, the more we get to relish in our own boredom and creativity. That’s where the value is at.

[sources:bbc&verge]