Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained in the company’s third-quarter earnings conference why Facebook wants to study how its services affect users. On Monday, related documents leaked by a former Facebook employee caused a lot of media attention and criticism.
Zuckerberg said: “Sincere criticism helps us become better. But I think what we are seeing is the organized and selective use of leaked documents to incorrectly portray our company. The actual situation is that we have built an open A culture that encourages discussion and research on work so that we can make progress on many complex issues that are not unique to us.” Zuckerberg also said that Facebook is doing this work because “we care about how to do things right.”
Moreover, seventeen American news media reported on Facebook. Previously, former employee Frances Haugen provided the media with Facebook’s internal research, and at the same time providing these documents to the US Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to seek the identity of the whistleblower.
Previously, the “Wall Street Journal” had carried out a series of reports based on these documents, prompting the U.S. Congress and other national parliaments to hold relevant hearings. These reports indicate that Facebook has long realized that its services may have a negative impact on the mental health of users, including pushing content to users that cause polarities and spreading potentially harmful misinformation.
Although Facebook has taken steps to make improvements in these areas to make the platform more secure, critics believe that Facebook’s actions are not big enough and fast enough. One of Zuckerberg’s arguments is that Facebook’s problems are actually just a reflection of social reality.
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He said: “The main reason for these problems is not social media. In other words, no matter what Facebook does, it is impossible to solve these problems on its own.” It has been intensified before, and studies have shown that other countries that use similar social media have stopped or reduced the polarities.
Zuckerberg said that Facebook often needs to weigh in some decisions, such as whether to provide better encryption technology or more support for judicial investigations. “Some people say that we did not solve these problems because we only care about making money. This sounds reasonable at first, but the reality is that the root of these problems is not our business, but how to balance different social values.” Zach Berg said he called for more regulatory measures so that companies like Facebook would not have to be forced to choose among these complex options.
Zuckerberg also said that he was proud of the research done by Facebook and emphasized the company’s investment in real-world security and information security. However, he also admitted that he is concerned that discussions on Facebook’s research may create negative incentives for other companies engaged in similar jobs. “I am worried that we are urging other companies to start self-examination as we do. But I will continue to work in this area because I believe it will benefit our society and business in the long run.”
At the end of the opening statement of the earnings call, Zuckerberg announced a new strategic vision for the future of the platform. He said that Facebook does not want to cater to as many people as possible, but will focus more on young people aged 18 to 29.
He said: “We are reorganizing the team to make serving young people the “North Star” to guide them, instead of optimizing more for older people. Like everything, this will involve the trade-off of our products. Choice. This may mean that the growth rate of other groups in our community will slow down, but it also means that our services for young people will become better.” Zuckerberg said that this transition “will take years, not months.”
The changes mentioned by Zuckerberg, including updates to Facebook and Instagram, more prominent video features, and tilt to Reels short video products, will make Facebook more similar to TikTok, to attract TikTok’s core users groups. Zuckerberg admitted that TikTok is one of the most powerful competitors he has ever seen.
In the face of antitrust allegations by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Facebook often mentions the rapid development of TikTok. The FTC had previously accused that Facebook illegally maintained its monopoly in the field of personal social networks through the acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp.
The leaked documents show that Facebook is increasingly worried that young people are no longer active on its main platform, which will pose a life and death threat to the company’s future. Nonetheless, focusing on groups of young people over the age of 18 may ease pressure from members of Congress and other parties. Previously, Facebook was asked not to develop products specifically for children.
