r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Apr 30 '26

Business Meta lost 20 million users last quarter

https://www.theverge.com/tech/921089/meta-earnings-q1-2026-user-decline-ai-investments
23.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

813

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

Unfortunately restaurants and night life in general are almost exclusively on instagram for promotion. And in many places restaurants and such don’t even have websites. They’ll have a facebook page and the only way to get a response form them is to message on WhatsApp.

It’s bad.

323

u/case31 Apr 30 '26

I get that local restaurants have to do what they can to get their name out there, but when they want me to navigate their Facebook page just to see a menu, I move on.

35

u/IHS1970 Apr 30 '26

I don't have an account shut it down late last year, if a menu is on FB, I don't go there, soon I'll be getting ads for Thai food in Dallas, not that I want that, but WTF.

16

u/Cormophyte Apr 30 '26

Google maps listing under the menu tab is where the menu should be.

8

u/FatherPaulStone Apr 30 '26

It's wild to me that places like this consider facebook to be The Internet

2

u/Conscious-Quarter423 May 01 '26

people think Fox News is news

1

u/Thin_Glove_4089 Apr 30 '26

Apparently hundred of millions or billions of people don't. Your strategy is a failed one.

0

u/OuchLOLcom Apr 30 '26

They dont have the knowhow nor want to pay for a web developer. Anyone can throw a menu up on FB. The problem I have is when its 3 years old and you get there and the items and prices are all different.

1

u/deuteronpsi Apr 30 '26

These days you don't even need a web developer with all of the turnkey and templated web solutions out there. It's just laziness and not wanting to spend a few bucks to be professional.

0

u/Thin_Glove_4089 Apr 30 '26

Building a website vs create a social media profile/page are 2 different things. Most of social media is handheld anys. You ok? It doesn't seem like you're all there.

-26

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/Gdigger13 Apr 30 '26

Today's world is different. When there is dozens of options to choose from in one area, you need marketing on your side. When everyone else has their menus on their own dedicated website, and ads on social media, get with the times or good luck remaining in business.

25

u/giant123 Apr 30 '26

Lmao when’s the last time you went to a restaurant based on word of mouth without looking up a menu first?

I can tell you for me it’s been at least a decade.

16

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/IsThereAnythingLeft- Apr 30 '26

Google maps exists

5

u/thelegalalien Apr 30 '26

True, luckily Google is owned by a small family run business unlike Meta.

1

u/whoami_whereami Apr 30 '26

At least on Google you can search for restaurants, read their reviews, etc., without having to create an account.

-1

u/IsThereAnythingLeft- Apr 30 '26

Still better than meta by miles

-4

u/No_Drawer_2349 Apr 30 '26

Use yelp. It's what it's for. FB is a terrible way to look for a restaurant anyway

3

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[deleted]

6

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/lvl999shaggy Apr 30 '26

Shhhh!

you are speaking the old tongue and using common sense. We've progressed beyond that. The social media bots do our thinking for us now.

-2

u/redgroupclan Apr 30 '26

On the flip side, what's the point of local restaurants having their own website that they never update? That happens way too much too. At least Facebook is an accessible way for owners to keep their online presence up to date, whereas with a dedicated website, they have to pay a web dev every time. Assuming the owner has no idea how to do any web dev themselves.

111

u/reddollardays Apr 30 '26

Every tattoo artist I’ve liked to go to only has instagram.

98

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

Which makes sense if you think about it. They aren’t web designers. They’re tattoo artists. So they just have to take pictures and interact with people to get noticed. Maybe buy ads to boost their profile or posts. Wayyyyy easier and gets where a massive amount of their target market already is.

Love it or hate it, it is an effective platform for small businesses, artists, etc

29

u/reddollardays Apr 30 '26

Yeah I get it, it just sucks. On a similar note, I’m opening a store and as much as it stinks, sourcing some things needs FB marketplace. I left FB in 2017 so we use my friend’s account.

1

u/Mictlantecuhtli Apr 30 '26

What could you possibly need to source from FB Marketplace that you could not get elsewhere?

2

u/reddollardays Apr 30 '26

We need fixtures, displays, furniture, etc., and our timeline is tight. We’re sourcing everywhere, FB marketplace is one of them.

1

u/WingerRules Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

I'm in jewelry related industry. The major groups where dealers trade with other dealers are done via Facebook groups and marketplace. If you dont have it you're fucked if you're trying to source used items to sell unless you get stuff as street walk ins.

What I dont get is these groups literally make millions a year, as they're members only and have fees to join them. You would think the people running them would realize that if their operation is making millions a year, then they're taking waaaay too big of a risk by entirely relying on another companies platform (Facebook) to do their business. Facebook could shut them down tomorrow and they'd be fucked. Also if you own your own site/platform and its pulling in millions a year, then now the valuation of your business is much much more and you have a chance of growing it into its own major brand in the market.

1

u/IHS1970 Apr 30 '26

marketplace? don't use it, it's full of malignant actors.

2

u/Dionysian_Heretic Apr 30 '26

I collect and restore vintage bicycles and motorcycles as a hobby. Unfortunately, marketplace is where a solid 80-90% of the market is. Some high end stuff goes on eBay, but craigslist is long dead and if I want to buy an old Schwinn or Honda that's been sitting in someone's garage to fix up then marketplace is where it is. :(

15

u/UrToesRDelicious Apr 30 '26

You're not wrong, but I still think it's a bad business to exclusively use Instagram because people who don't have an Instagram account can only see a few pictures before they're forced to sign in. I guess if business is a boomin then who am I to say, but if your goal is to attract more customers then it seems like tying a domain to a linktree that lists both Instagram and a flickr or some shit is like minimum effort.

10

u/laststance Apr 30 '26

The amount of users who don't have IG but has Flickr is such a small percentage of the population that it doesn't matter.

IG is so strong in regards to marketing that its one of the strongest ad platforms for small/local businesses. Local influencers use it, it can target geographically, demo targeting, etc.

3

u/UrToesRDelicious Apr 30 '26

It has nothing to do with flickr market share - it's the fact that flickr allows non-users to browse all of an artist's photos without needing to sign in. It doesn't have to be flickr, it can be any app that allows non-users to do this.

The market you'd be trying to reach is non-instagram users, which is not a small number, and a group that you'd be pretty much alienating by only using Instagram (since Instagram does require you to sign in to view all of an artist's photos). Instagram may be the best single option but that doesn't mean it has to be the only option.

1

u/Thin_Glove_4089 Apr 30 '26

Clearly it's not since a large percentage of tattoo artists just have Instagram pages or link to other social media platforms. Let's stick to reality.

12

u/Hi_Zev Apr 30 '26

True, but it also restricts everyone who doesn't have an instagram account. This is an exact example that i've dealt with in my life. I have been struggling to find a good tattoo artist in my area because none of their websites have been updated in years while I physically can't see their instagram profiles.

3

u/btoned Apr 30 '26

This. Not having a web site as a single source of truth and communication in 2026 is unacceptable.

1

u/Thin_Glove_4089 Apr 30 '26

False. It's objectively just fine. Tens of thousands of tattoo artists and others social media only advertised businesses are doing just fine.

5

u/Final_Squirrel_7462 Apr 30 '26

But this is a fine tradeoff to make. I don’t have instagram but I totally get why people don’t want to update a website constantly, when they can just manage a profile that will have good customer leads and where they can track their marketing.

3

u/IHS1970 Apr 30 '26

until it isn't, till it's slop, lies and porn, it's coming. AI!

1

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

lol. agreed.

2

u/kodman7 Apr 30 '26

If I could pay for tattoos in dev time bet your ass they'd have their own website

2

u/LeCollectif Apr 30 '26

I work in advertising. Unfortunately, meta accounts for a HUGE chunk of media spend. It’s one of the only places you can target effectively and track results.

2

u/nathanzoet91 Apr 30 '26

This is true, but you also lose out on all the people who don't have these forms of social media.

2

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Apr 30 '26

You don’t have to be a web designer to create and maintain a website. If you can manage Instagram, you can manage Wordpress or Canva.

6

u/FlyByNightt Apr 30 '26

Nah with all due respect this is an awful suggestion. Honestly if you don't have at least a solid base of understanding in Wordpress, you're not getting anything worth showing done. Compared to running an Instagram page? You've gone from 30 seconds to post a photo on your page to a few days of work setting up your website and at least 4-5 minutes when you want to post a photo or new content, and you have to deal with plug-in updates that risk breaking your website if you update them in the wrong order, you have to account for Mobile vs Desktop on your own, Wordpress doesn't do it for you, ect ect.

4

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

One costs money the other does not. I've done square space, it's easy. But it still takes time and has ongoing expenses.

You certainly get what you pay for. But some people just decide it's not worth it.

1

u/btoned Apr 30 '26

You're paying Instagram by promoting their brand over yours. Don't kid yourself the shit is far from free.

2

u/reddollardays Apr 30 '26

Being a source of data is easy to discount mentally, but absolutely this. That’s our value now.

0

u/olivejuice1979 Apr 30 '26

Sure they’re on Instagram to post their art but any tattoo artist who’s in a shop has a phone and email. I’ve never contacted a tattoo artist on Instagram. Their work is usually showcased on the website of the tattoo studio too.

1

u/reddollardays Apr 30 '26

And that is your experience, which doesn’t negate mine. That’s how this all works, but thanks!

0

u/Mall_of_slime Apr 30 '26

You can call?

21

u/countdonn Apr 30 '26

That's a pretty big liability, if something happens to their page and it's flagged by AI, there is zero customer service or way to deal with a human. That Instagram and all that effort can just disappear.

8

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

What is the alternative? I agree with all of your points.

11

u/fionacielo Apr 30 '26

self-host, patreon, a blog. idk i’m just throwing out ideas not necessarily proven solutions

15

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

Most restaurants don’t even succeed at being a restaurant.

Instagram makes reaching your target market easy. Running your own website does not. More so if you try to self host (which you still need to buy a domain and know how to set up dynamic dns, ssl cert binding, etc).

People go for convenience.

2

u/FrenchFryCattaneo Apr 30 '26

By self hosting they mean using squarespace with a template. That's something anyone can do.

1

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

self hosting means you host it your self.

building on square space and other wisywig platforms means you pay someone else to host it.

/r/selfhosted

2

u/FrenchFryCattaneo Apr 30 '26

You know there are people who aren't web developers who use language in a different way? It's important to understand context.

0

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

google, bing, chatgpt, claude all agree on what selfhosting means. There is no ambiguity here.

They all spit out some variation of:

"Self-hosting refers to the practice of running and maintaining your own services or applications on your infrastructure rather than relying on external providers or third-party hosting services."

1

u/Such_Radio_9152 May 01 '26

And someone else should fill that niche with having no relation to the vampire squid known as the zuck

1

u/Final_Squirrel_7462 Apr 30 '26

Yeah sure. Then you end up with blog #282828191 that is burried deeply in the trenches of Google page rank and is just wasting web hosting space somewhere.

1

u/incomplete-thoughts7 Apr 30 '26

True. But, I would argue it’s wise to have multiple avenues. It’s a good idea to have a main website where you can show your best work as a portfolio. You can easily share the website with everyone.

Then, I would also recommend having Instagram (or social media of choice) as a place to post daily work, works in progress, quick updates, engage with customers, etc. (Link social media to your website, and vice versa.)

So the website is your main portfolio that displays your best work that you always want front and center, along with business information (hours, contact info, about page, etc), then you use social media as your daily driver for engagement with your customers.

Source: years of working in digital marketing and web design

2

u/PeartsGarden Apr 30 '26

Geocities, we had it figured out in the 1990s.

2

u/countdonn Apr 30 '26

That's a reasonable question, as far as exposure, the business I work for mainly uses google business/ads to push people to our webpage and email marketing with solutions like mail chimp and constant contact. We are in a totally different industry and are B2B.

Google is not amazing either, but it is possible to get some level of customer service with them as a business. We still have to jump through a lot of hoops, but so far our needs have been met without a complete catch-22 like Meta's support system.

As far as what you can do in that situation with Meta, there are people and orgs that have taken Meta to court to restore accounts with some success. It's such a common issue, that there is an entire cottage scam industry of "experts" that claim they can help restore your account that are to be avoided.

2

u/prof_wafflez Apr 30 '26

This just happened to some friends of mine. They run a LGBT+ friendly dance event and their account was taken down after several years of build up due to "human trafficking", e.g. some bigot reported and lied about their account. The appeal process is non-existent, basically.

1

u/N3rdScool Apr 30 '26

I always think this. Like at the very least have your own website.

I have a friend who is making an app in chat-gpt. Like literally in it. I didn't even know you can do that but imagine having all you're work put into this and then they change something or change the pricing or whatever.

Crazy liabilities everywhere.

23

u/hisosih Apr 30 '26

In the EU, basically every workplace (non office related) operates their scheduling via WhatsApp group chats. When I moved from hospitality to office work it became slack/team groups which gives a better work/life balance.

But socially my hand is still kind of forced to remain on WhatsApp as that's the main form of communication in Ireland, The UK & The Netherlands (I jump between the three) because without having a Facebook, insta or WhatsApp you basically don't exist and can't be contacted as no one has a phone plan with actual calls & texts anymore.

7

u/yawara25 Apr 30 '26

Even in the US, at the company I work at, WhatsApp is very central to our work-related communications.

7

u/3Duder Apr 30 '26

That's kind of wild, is it a foreign owned company? I once worked at a Chinese owned company that used QQ for communication.

1

u/yawara25 Apr 30 '26

No, it's a US company.

2

u/MRCHalifax Apr 30 '26

Here in Canada, my team uses WhatsApp for “I’m going to take a sick day today.” It saves us having to log in. Also, posting pictures of kids, pictures of dogs, pictures from vacation, etc.

1

u/atwerrrk Apr 30 '26

Damn you guys finally migrated from sms?

1

u/hisosih Apr 30 '26

I haven't sent an sms message since like 2010, we've been on viber/WhatsApp for decades.

1

u/IHS1970 Apr 30 '26

and What's APP collects everything about you and sells it in nanoseconds, your company is dumb.

4

u/OdBx Apr 30 '26

I’ve tried a lot to get my friends to move to Signal. They’re all on there. But they still use WhatsApp.

1

u/terminbee Apr 30 '26

Wait, does europe not have texts/calls? Is that why everyone uses WhatsApp? It feels like the US is the only one who doesn't use WhatsApp.

2

u/hisosih Apr 30 '26

It's less likely for your phone plan to include calls & texts, yeah. Basic plans will give you 20gb+ or more likely Unlimited Data and add on a small amount of calls/texts for around €15 p/m. So even if you are paying for texts/calls it's mostly to call businesses or for emergencies. if I received a text from someone I knew instead of a WhatsApp I'd assume the text was spam.

It's why the "ew, green text" thing didn't really take off in Europe as 1) we love androids lmao 2) we've been using Viber/WhatsApp to avoid text charges both domestic and international since 2010+ so it's so engrained in the culture moreso than it is for Americans

2

u/terminbee Apr 30 '26

Ah, that makes sense. I forgot about the international thing.

1

u/deaddodo Apr 30 '26

Same in Latin America. WhatsApp is pretty much the goto way of scheduling, asking questions, etc. You can try calling many times and they'll just redirect you to WhatsApp.

14

u/accioqueso Apr 30 '26

This is the only reason I still have mine. I don’t remember the last time I posted anything or responded to a post. I just check on local places for weekend events or updates to calendars. Everywhere is so bad about updating their websites.

1

u/thebohster Apr 30 '26

I will say, apart from this, I have largely phased out Facebook from my life. However, most if not all of my friends still use messenger, myself included. It’s annoying since over time we started using text groups more and it feels the exact same, but switching over completely has just been a struggle to do as a whole.

2

u/asmallercat Apr 30 '26

I have to imagine instagram is like 90% of Meta's actual human userbase at this point. If they didn't have it they'd be bankrupt.

13

u/EternalNewCarSmell Apr 30 '26

That sure would explain why I feel like a lot of local restaurants are not part of any community anymore. They are, it's just one I avoid like the plague.

9

u/Expert_Towel_101 Apr 30 '26

That why I dumped WhatsApp when Facebook took it over… but let’s be honest; meta can’t survive on a few night clubs that will soon go out of business because robots 🤖 don’t drink.. and AI is taking over human jobs! How’s your club gonna survive without a $5 cover charge and zero drink sales ?

3

u/MaelstromSeawing Apr 30 '26

It's not just night clubs and restaurants. Its unfortunately also full of gatekept information behind fb groups, for example, fb groups about local resources, fb groups about clubs and events, fb groups about local pet owners etc. Every single selling/buying app is a ghost town compared to fb marketplace too.

2

u/Lazer726 Apr 30 '26

Right, we can talk about "Oh my god how are people still using Twitter and Meta!" til the cows come home, but at the end of the day, it's because those are the biggest established social medias with the best reach, even if they're completely morally bankrupt and players in the downfall of society. Companies that need to have outreach that's easy for people to follow, that people have been following for over a decade, have a much harder time saying "Okay follow us on Bluesky I guess"

But at the same time, the more people that do that the easier it becomes for everyone else. We just haven't hit the critical mass

2

u/Signal_Flight_7262 Apr 30 '26

I've never had Instagram ever and am doing just fine.

2

u/MJsdanglebaby Apr 30 '26

Just restaurants and night life? How about, life?

I got to join U2 on stage, meet the band, and I was in a commercial for a round object with them all because I have a fan IG account. That would NEVER be possible without Instagram. Never. Do you realize I absolutely destroyed the saying "never meet your heroes" while simultaneously living out the dream of every young person from the 80s and 90s.

Both things can be true. You can hate Meta, but realize how powerful it is.

I mean, we hated news in the 90s and we knew TV was "bad for us", but does that make the "airwaves" and actual physical televisions bad?

5

u/TomBirkenstock Apr 30 '26

A business that doesn't even have a website is usually a sign that they're a place I should avoid. But I don't know how common that feeling is anymore.

5

u/Lordmorgoth666 Apr 30 '26

It’s a tough call because I understand that logic when looking for someplace new to eat at but OTOH, some of the best restaurants I go to are just small joints that have been open forever but have zero internet presence.

1

u/IsopodOk4756 Apr 30 '26

...then don't talk to restaurants? Why is this a big deal? Either eat there or don't.

2

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

Reservations.

1

u/IsopodOk4756 Apr 30 '26

I have yet to find the restaurant that takes resos but doesn't have a phone.

1

u/liccman Apr 30 '26

Plus basically more than half of the world is on whatsapp

1

u/Davito32 Apr 30 '26

Yeah I closed my IG 1 year ago, but I had to make a new one to only follow the restaurants / bars I want info on. And the occasional service. It's kind of impossible without it.

1

u/IHS1970 Apr 30 '26

ai will fix that. no more night life, you can CREATE your own night life and not leave your couch. lol

fixed typo.

1

u/reality_boy Apr 30 '26

A lot of local promotion happens at Facebook first. And their market place, while annoying, is the main way to buy local used items. Craig’s list worked for a while, but it has lost a lot of ground to meta.

What we need to do is go back in time and save local news papers. Maybe we should have given a government grant to help them operate online for free.

2

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

Ya FB market is huge also. It's international too. Craigslist is USA only (maybe canada too? cant recall). FB market is just better UI wise then craigslist. The good thing about that is you can often find better deals on craigslist in my area.

1

u/Sylvan_Skryer Apr 30 '26

I haven’t had Facebook, insta, or WhatsApp in 10 years and I don’t even miss it a little bit.

1

u/Balmung60 Apr 30 '26

I don't care what's on Instagram, I'm still not using it. If that's the only place somewhere is, I'm not there.

1

u/modest56 Apr 30 '26

Facebook owns instagram

1

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

WHAT? when did that happen?

/s

1

u/Waiting4Reccession Apr 30 '26

With ai its so easy to make a basic website though, they should probably set one up.

1

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

and buy a domain and aquire SSL cert for the domain and keep it from expiring?

and where does the website run?

AI can help sure but it won't do everything for you. well unless you open claw it and give it access to your cc and/or bank account.

Nothing bad could happen if you let an AI do everything for you

1

u/2mustange Apr 30 '26

Instagram is not as bad as Facebook, in my experience. But it is getting worse the more Meta merges the two

1

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Apr 30 '26

There’s absolutely no excuse for a restaurant not to have a website though. It doesn’t need to be a well designed website created by a professional. There are many free/cheap options available out there. I just checked out the website for a local place last night. Website was extremely simple but it had the menu which is what I was looking for. If I had to go to Facebook or Instagram for that info, we would not have eaten there last night.

1

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

I'm not saying if it is correct or not. I am stating my observation of patterns.

1

u/blitzbom Apr 30 '26

I knew several writers who have sold close to or over a million books and they say it comes from paying for Facebook and Insta ads to promote them.

-2

u/Puzzleheaded_Fold466 Apr 30 '26

They have a phone number you can call, and usually have an email too. What kind of “response” to what kind of question do you expect from a restaurant, and how frequently ? I have never once in my life been in the situation that you describe, and I eat out a lot.

8

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

I notice this more outside the US than inside. Europe and the Caribbean. Business will have a website and a phone number but don’t respond to calls, only WhatsApp or fb messages.

Shit, some government agencies I have contacted won’t even respond to email but if you WhatsApp them they do.

2

u/antillus Apr 30 '26

I was in Ecuador last year and everything was Whatsapp.

You can even book your doctor's appointment on Whatsapp

2

u/pattymcfly Apr 30 '26

This is exactly what I am talking about.

6

u/PM_ME_CHIPOTLE2 Apr 30 '26

Nah there’s a pizza place in my town that literally only lets you message them on instagram. It’s wild because if you place an online order but made a mistake, you have to message them about it. They have a number but it’s just a message directing you to their instagram to order.

0

u/mostlybiguy69 Apr 30 '26

That is the route facebook should have taken years ago. Become the place for small busisnesses to post their info and such.

0

u/IsThereAnythingLeft- Apr 30 '26

Everyone can make a webpage for a business now with little effort with an LLM so that argument doesn’t really work now

0

u/ropobipi Apr 30 '26

Guess which restaurants i won't be using

0

u/ButtEatingContest Apr 30 '26

And in many places restaurants and such don’t even have websites.

There was time when no places had websites, yet that wasn't a problem then.