TikTok have edged out Facebook by courting the next generation of social media s. It is no secret that Facebook is currently facing an identity crisis, as social media is quickly moving past text-based posts and photo-sharing days towards a future where short videos are king, and content creators drive engagement as well as the ad business.
Facebook has already been stung by Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, a privacy-centric tweak that severely limits its ability to track s’ activity and show them personalized ads. Even the company has made it clear that it expects to lose billions of dollars in ad money on the plum turf that is Apple’s ecosystem. Plus, Meta’s well-publicized metaverse ambitions are also eating into the company’s reserves, wiping billions of dollars each year in the name of research and development. The company has even slowed down the pace of hiring as it expects headwinds in the coming quarters.
In times of crisis, Meta is turning to its bread-and-butter social destination with a lucrative change. According to a report by tethered to the same core . Currently, under testing, s will be allowed to run five different profiles, each dedicated to a particular interest or purpose. On paper, it makes sense, especially for s struggling with a cluttered feed. Dedicating a profile to one’s varied interests and reserving one to keep in touch with friends and family sounds like an idea Facebook should’ve implemented long ago. Except, the company was not always fond of the practice. Even now, Facebook tells s to refrain from creating multiple s.
Multiple Profiles Mean Multiple Problems
Creating different profiles for specific interests should tame the chaos of a busy feed loaded with algorithmic recommendations. suspended a sitting President.
The concerns are not unfounded. Earlier this month, Meta released its first challenges it has faced with Facebook and how it handled them. However, experts are far from convinced about Meta’s declarations. The Real Facebook Oversight Board – a group consisting of journalists, civil rights activists, politicians, and academics – labeled the report as a “master class in spin and obfuscation,” further accusing it of “whitewashing the religious violence fomented in India across their platforms.”
The gist here is that Meta is already struggling with the existing one-profile-per- system. Of course, Meta is no stranger to the menace of disinformation farms operating off-shore, ready to spread hoaxes and influence public sentiment, for a price. Letting problematic s create five profiles will only boost their reach and multiply the problems at hand. Higher the number of profiles, the greener the pastures for Facebook to seed more ads. But Facebook will be filling its coffers at a great cost, especially since it's rarely held able for its flawed content policies.
Source: Bloomberg, Meta, RFOB/Medium