Leaked emails show Mark Zuckerberg worrying Facebook is no longer relevant and knows the internal reasons
Mark Zuckerberg is deeply concerned about the decline in cultural relevance in 2022 emails revealed by Facebook in the FTC’s antitrust trial against META.
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been worried about the cultural significance of Facebook for some time. His concerns were revealed in an antitrust trial by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Meta. According to business insiders, an email exchange between Zuckerberg and Facebook’s head Tom Allison was posted in court in April this week.
Zuckerberg admitted in one of the emails that even though Facebook’s user engagement remains stable in many areas, he remains worried that people will never find the platform culturally relevant again. “It feels like its cultural relevance is rapidly declining, and I’m worried that this may be a major indicator of health issues in the future,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg explained that if Facebook loses its importance, it could impact the entire company regardless of Instagram or WhatsApp performance. He said that if Facebook itself starts to decline, he cannot see a successful future for Meta.
One of the biggest problems Zuckerberg pointed out is Facebook’s “Friends” feature. He said many of the users’ friends lists are outdated and no longer filled with people they care about. He even admitted that he personally prefers to follow influencers on Instagram or Twitter rather than connect with friends on Facebook. He said this may be one of the reasons Facebook has lost its charm, as other platforms focus more on the “Follow” feature than on “Friends.”
To restore Facebook’s popularity, Zuckerberg proposed three potential solutions to Alison. One of them is a bold, even “crazy” idea: remove everyone’s list of friends and get users fresh, hoping it can help people connect more meaningfully.
He also discussed the platform’s ongoing focus on groups and communities, but acknowledged that even this approach did not meet expectations. “I’m optimistic about community messaging, but after running in the FB group for a few years, I’m not sure we’ll be able to push this further,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg’s email reveals his seriousness about Facebook’s future and shows that even with billions of users, staying relevant in a world of fast-growing social media is still a major challenge.
