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A few weeks ago, for the second time in the last few years, I deactivated my Facebook account. After two or three days of mindlessly typing “facebook” into my browser and then remembering that I no longer belonged to the social network, I now feel confident in saying I’ve purged Facebook from my day-to-day activities. But I’ve been here before and eventually returned to wasting time on the site – addictive social media platforms have a way of doing that to people.
 A smattering of news reports issued yesterday provided some interesting context. For one, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reported the company’s FY2017 results; not surprisingly, they’re solid, with ad revenues almost 50% higher than FY2016. Zuckerberg also alluded to worries about the site’s social impact and seems oddly committed to streamlining the site to eliminate wasted time for users:
"In 2018, we're focused on making sure Facebook isn't just fun to use, but also good for people's well-being and for society. We're doing this by encouraging meaningful connections between people rather than passive consumption of content. Already last quarter, we made changes to show fewer viral videos to make sure people's time is well spent. In total, we made changes that reduced time spent on Facebook by roughly 50 million hours every day [emphasis mine]. By focusing on meaningful connections, our community and business will be stronger over the long term."
The same day, Bloomberg reported on Facebook’s increasingly desperate emails to users who no longer log on. Apparently, the company first tries to lure eyes back to the site by alerting users to their friends’ activity. After a number of months, Facebook starts sending messages subtly implying that unauthorized users are trying to log on to a deactivated user’s account to get the original user back into the fold. This strategy hasn’t necessarily been confirmed, but all signs point to the company using trickery to get eyes back on their site (and ads).
As a former user, I’m skeptical about Facebook’s apparent concern with their users’ time and social health. Placing a high value on meaningful interactions rather than passive scrolling is indeed good for users, but it’s also good for targeted ads and lead conversion for the company’s partners. That said, losing 50 million user hours per day is quite a hit for a company that relies so heavily on ad revenue.
If Facebook’s past history is any indication, the company will likely bounce back from this trough and continue to dominate the online space. Hopefully I’ll still be watching from the sidelines.
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Re: How Desperate is Facebook? Deactivate It And Find Out
