It’s weird, I want to say the same, but then realize everyone I know is using some sort of FB product. Facebook for local groups and marketplace, Instagram for messaging/posting, Whatsapp is ubiquitous outside of USA.
Regarding Threads, I’m also not sure. I don’t think it’s being used widely, but that’s how Reels started as well. Everyone wrote it off as TikTok clone, but now I get to see people use it while I’m on public transport in different parts of the world.
Agreed about the Metaverse part though. Oculus is still one of the things you try out for a couple of hours, and then forget about it.
I'm getting down-voted, so I feel I should fight my corner a little bit.
Yes, their products are ubiquitous, but as someone further down noted, some of the most important aren't monetised. Their ubiquity also came from their first-mover status and network effect, which is severely diluted in 2023 and I can't see improving over time.
FWIW, I also live outside of the US and EU, and despite once being the only real platform, I'm seeing TikTok and Telegram coming up fast these days. Their position came from monopoly, which just isn't there any more.
And then there's the fact that advertising is also undergoing something of a shakeup at the moment. I work for an org that does a lot of ads, and everyone's freaking out over losing our ability to do targeting as we did. The devil will of course be in the details, but I can't see this being good at all for FB's bottom line.
And this is before we get to adblockers, apparently now up to >50% of users if Hootsuite are to be believed [0]; and the fact they've been bullshitting on ad metrics, a core revenue issue now at the class action phase [1].
My somewhat colourful analogy re: ships and islands may not have been quite on the nose, but as a take I wouldn't say it's awful. Meta need a serious reinvention and several decent new revenue streams if they're going to cut it going forward.
They had a plan, it was the Metaverse, and it sucked. They missed the boat on monetising their AI tools -- something I'm eternally grateful for, but can't see them fixing their core problems.
How does whatsapp make revenue? I've used it for years. I don't pay for it, I never see ads in it. They claim it is 'secure' and my conversation data isn't used for anything. Even if the last is untrue; and I wouldn't be particularly surprised if it was, is simply mining those conversations sufficient to generate the revenue to pay for server costs? How does it work?
Edit: Business APIs and payment fees is apparently the answer. I'm genuinely impressed I've been able to use it all these years for free without ever having a hint of this.
for what i recall, the actual messages on whatsapp are end-to-end encrypted, metadata and attachments are not. It is just another mass data gathering service
Regarding Threads, I’m also not sure. I don’t think it’s being used widely, but that’s how Reels started as well. Everyone wrote it off as TikTok clone, but now I get to see people use it while I’m on public transport in different parts of the world.
Agreed about the Metaverse part though. Oculus is still one of the things you try out for a couple of hours, and then forget about it.