Why the writing is on the wall for Facebook
Arwa
Mahdawi
Profits are strong, shares are up and its users are
increasing. But the social media company is still in big trouble
Mark Zuckerberg, who believes the press is using
leaked documents to present a ‘false picture’ of Facebook.
Tue 26 Oct
2021 12.19 EDT
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/26/why-the-writing-is-on-the-wall-for-facebook
Uh-oh, it
looks as if Mark Zuckerberg has caught on to the media’s dastardly plot to
destroy Facebook! As you have probably noticed, the technology behemoth has
been in the news nonstop recently, as media outlets plough through thousands of
pages of internal documents leaked by the Facebook whistleblower Frances
Haugen. Most people might think journalists reporting revelations about one of
the world’s most powerful companies was par for the course. Zuckerberg,
however, seems to think it’s some sort of vast conspiracy.
“My view is
that what we’re seeing is a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked
documents to paint a false picture of our company,” Zuckerberg said during an
earnings call on Monday. Sounds a little Trumpy, doesn’t it? Admit no wrong;
instead, cast yourself as the victim of the malicious mainstream media.
That is not
where the Donald Trump comparisons end; the two men are strikingly similar.
Both seem to prioritise profits over people. Both extend different rules to
celebrities and the powerful than to everyone else. Both seem to have an
unusual relationship with facts. And both seem to reckon that the US is the
only place in the world that matters. Internal documents appear to show that
only 13% of Facebook’s misinformation-moderation staff hours were devoted to
non-US countries last year, even though their populations comprise more than
90% of Facebook’s users.
If it
sounds as if I am conflating Facebook the company with Zuckerberg the man, by
the way, it’s because I am. Zuckerberg, it’s clear, exerts an unhealthy amount
of control over Facebook. “Right now, Mark [Zuckerberg] is unaccountable,”
Haugen told the Observer. “He has all the control. He has no oversight.” In
short, he is the sort of autocrat you imagine Trump wishes he could have been.
Before he
lost the 2020 election and legal troubles started to mount, Trump was known as
“Teflon Don”. He faced scandal after scandal, but nothing seemed to stick to
him. Facebook has had a similarly charmed run. Over the past few years, the
company has been mired in endless negative PR. It has been accused of
facilitating genocide in Myanmar and turning a blind eye to human trafficking
in the Middle East. It has been accused of mass surveillance. It has been
accused of ignoring Instagram’s impact on the mental health of teenage girls. I
could go on: there is seemingly almost nothing good to say about Facebook. And
yet, that negative coverage hasn’t hurt the company’s profits. Its shares are
up 25% since January. On Monday, Facebook reported more than $9bn in profits
during its most recent financial quarter, along with a 6% increase in daily
active users. It has exceeded investor expectations.
Does all
this mean that Facebook is untouchable? Impervious to negative headlines? Able
to do whatever it likes with zero consequences? Not entirely. Facebook’s PR
problems have apparently made it leak top talent. “Facebook is extremely thinly
staffed … and this is because there are a lot of technologists that look at
what Facebook has done, and their unwillingness to accept responsibility, and
people just aren’t willing to work there,” Haugen said in a briefing last week.
If Facebook can’t attract the most talented technologists, then it’s going to
have a very hard time growing.
Another
existential threat revealed by the Facebook files is the extent to which the
company is losing traction with young people. Its user base is ageing and the
kids that Facebook needs to engage if it wants to remain relevant think the
platform is “boring, misleading and negative”. What’s more, internal documents
don’t seem particularly optimistic that the company can turn this around
easily. Facebook may be performing well financially for the moment, but its
continued success is far from a given. The writing is on the wall.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
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