The reasons why Facebook and its parent company are currently in dire straits encompass everything from Mark Zuckerberg’s shady relationship with privacy and user data to population stagnation and lack of internet in developing markets. Instead of trying to repair the company as it was, Zuck instead pioneered a rebrand from Facebook to Meta, seemingly distancing himself from the controversy he’s created over the decades.
But is this rebrand and the recent Metaverse innovation a solid strategy to gain the trust of millions? Or is it just a last-ditch attempt to rule the world, so to speak?
No matter the grand ideal that the Metaverse was meant to set for life in virtual reality, it seems to have fallen flat faster than that of its preceding venture, Facebook. Facebook’s main issue at the moment is the presence and popularity of other social media platforms. Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok all have a niche that they occupy and a core demographic that they serve.
However, Facebook seems to be nothing more than an old folk’s home and a platform trying to fit into too many niches at once. It isn’t special or novel anymore, and it doesn’t have much of a place in the neo-modern society of today.
Previously Zuck had been beaten to the punch by other platforms. A prime example of this is when Snapchat launched Stories. Since then, there have been many other instances of someone else beating Zuck to the punch. The idea behind Metaverse was to end that, to beat everyone to the punch.
While everyone is living in 2022, Zuck is planning for the dystopian future where everyone lives in virtual reality, and the real world becomes a wasteland of sedentary bodies attached to VR goggles. Unfortunately, Metaverse is losing inhabitants and cash flow fast. Experiences like Decentraland have gone from 8000 users at the beginning of 2022 to a mere 38 at the current last count. And that trend seems to be spread to all corners of the Metaverse.
Zuckerberg’s net worth has dropped $71 billion this year alone, and if the trend of gen Z leaving Facebook and the failure of the Metaverse continues, he’s set to lose a lot more. Meta seems to be dead in the water, and it could potentially have been stopped if Zuck had actually cared about privacy and the safety of user data instead of trying to sweep it under the rug and cover it with a flashy rebrand and loft, never-to-be-fully-realized project.
In other news, Facebook is adding Reels to your Group chats.
