For the first time in a long time … Mark Zuckerberg got it wrong. Big time. And it’s leading to an implosion of Facebook … because it turns out we really don’t actually like anyone.
Follow me for a minute. And keep in mind – I literally do this for a living.
In January, Facebook rolled out a major update. I won’t bore you with the technical details … but let me give it to you in a nutshell.
In an effort to bring Facebook back to the reasons alleged for why it was created (and no doubt to get businesses to spend more money on advertising), Facebook has drastically scaled back on the number of businesses and pages that show up in your newsfeed.
Instead, you’re seeing more of your friends and family. Because apparently Zuckerberg wants you to start reconnecting with people.
Here’s the problem with that. We actually DON’T want to see more of the people we know.
Don’t believe me? The numbers alone prove my point. Since January 1, time spent on Facebook for users is down nearly 25%.
Think about this for a second. Your coworker adds you as a friend. You click “accept” because what are you going to do … NOT accept Joey, who you sit next to every day?
But you quickly find out that Joey is the exact opposite of you politically. And posts pictures of his baby’s diapers. And vegan tofu.
And now, the guy who you once got along with at work you actually have started to dislike.
And by “dislike,” I mean you can’t make eye contact with him without wanting to throat punch him … despite the fact that he actually didn’t even do anything to you.
But then there are those pages that you clicked “like” on because you ACTUALLY wanted to see what the business was up to. YOU went out of YOUR way to say that you wanted more information about them.
And what has Facebook done? Given you less of what you “like” and more of whom you “hate.”
Don’t even get me started on the fact that Facebook is doing everything in its power to advance its own political agenda and is silencing the content of those it doesn’t agree with politically.
Facebook has long been known for conducting social experiments. But THIS particular social experiment just so happens to have the potential to be TOO effective for Mark Zuckerberg. That’s because if it’s really successful – we might all just put down our phones and laptops and start connecting with people the way we were meant to … in person.
Kyle S. Reyes is the Chief Executive Officer of The Silent Partner Marketing, co-host of The Whiskey Patriots and the National Spokesman for Law Enforcement Today. Reyes is also an acclaimed keynote speaker on patriotism and leadership, entrepreneurship and marketing by storytelling. You can follow him on Facebook.
