Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said something surprising on Wednesday when the company reported its fourth quarter earnings results: Users are spending less time on the social network — and that’s a good thing.
Zuckerberg said that users spent 50 million hours less, per day, using the social network last quarter than the previous quarter. Those 50 million hours amounted to a 5 percent decline in time spent on the app.
In early January, Zuckerberg warned people that a decline was coming as a result of changes Facebook was making to its News Feed algorithm, a decision by Facebook to show users more posts from friends and family, and fewer posts from publishers.
But those changes came after Facebook’s Q4 was in the books. Which means they can’t be used to explain the 5 percent decline Facebook reported Wednesday.
So if the decrease wasn’t caused by the News Feed algorithm, what caused it? Fewer viral videos, Zuckerberg says, adding that it’s all part of Facebook’s mission to ensure people are spending quality time on the network, not just passively scrolling.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d91OKBFEHgWRELOBvhKcWInKazg=/0x0:5472x3648/920x613/filters:focal(2252x729:3126x1603):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58527731/874506196.jpg.0.jpg
Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
https://www.recode.net/2018/1/31/16957546/facebook-time-spent-decline-mark-zuckerberg-explanation-q4-earnings-2018