Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as soon as thought of deleting everybody’s Fb pals in an effort to spice up the social community’s cultural relevance. This “probably loopy thought,” because the exec known as it on the time, was revealed on Monday as part of the proof launched through the first day of the U.S. authorities’s antitrust trial towards Meta.
In a single message to Meta workers in 2022, Zuckerberg proposed the technique of “wiping everybody’s graphs and having them begin once more” as a doable resolution to Fb’s declining significance within the social networking house. The thought was that forcing everybody to re-create their good friend graphs might encourage customers to reconnect with the social community as they rebuild their social connections.
Others at Meta, together with the pinnacle of Fb, Tom Alison, pushed again on the plan, and finally, the technique was by no means carried out.
Nonetheless, the proof offered within the trial revealed that Zuckerberg had thought of different methods to take care of his firm’s relevance, together with shifting Fb from a friends-based mannequin to a follower-based mannequin. That additionally by no means got here to be.
In current weeks, Fb has targeted once more on connecting pals, having revamped its Mates tab in an effort to return to an “OG Fb.” The brand new tab centralizes good friend requests and solely pals’ content material, together with their posts, reels, tales, and birthdays.
“I believe there are a whole lot of alternatives to make [Facebook] far more culturally influential than it’s at the moment,” Zuckberg informed traders throughout Meta’s This autumn 2024 earnings name about his key targets for the 12 months forward. “I believe a few of this may form of get again to how Fb was initially used again within the day.”
