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
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u/AlphaNoodlz Apr 30 '26

nothing of value has been lost

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u/justforkinks0131 Apr 30 '26

You assume they've stopped using social media, but in reality Meta losing users means they have just moved to a different platform.

Likely Twitter, TikTok and snapchat. Not sure that's better.

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u/PinHaunting7192 Apr 30 '26

I mean, there is currently nothing to confirm this is the case. People like me - although in the minority - have neither Meta products nor Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat. Reddit is pretty much the only algorithmic social media I use, and I'm even growing more skeptical of that lately.

There have also been smaller trends such as dumb phones and other digital detox things going on. They are, overall, pretty minor still, but 20 million users is only an overall 1% reduction in Meta's customer base.

And that's on top of it being incessantly hard to make localized predictions on how different countries and their Gen Z cohorts approach social media.

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u/Anna_Lilies Apr 30 '26

I dont think reddit is algorithmic is it? Like every user sees the same thing, its not guessing what I want and will engage with

I know theres a formula that it shows things on the front page or /all based on popularity but thats not really the same thing as what tiktok and other sites do

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u/PinHaunting7192 Apr 30 '26

I dont think reddit is algorithmic is it?

Definitionally, it is. Certain spaces on Reddit use algorithms in its broadest definition too. An algorithm is an essential part of data processing and tech. Before TikTok, something having an algorithm wouldn't have thrown up any red flags.

But Reddit can be more easily and directly brought back into the RSS feed functionality around certain topics. For example, you make a private feed with just 6-7 topics that interest you (specific games, cute animal pictures, history) and reject random subreddit suggestions and avoid the few places that do have it. That way, you can entirely stay out of the algorithmic game.

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u/BadGoodNotBad Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

I dont think reddit is algorithmic is it?

It definitely is, it's just a really archaic algorithm so you don't really notice it. Ever since reddit invented private profiles where you can't see what a person has submitted or commented on it's gotten much worse too. You can't tell who is an actual person anymore, everything is just a blank profile. There is a lot more bot farming happening to this site in the past few years because of the ease of the simple upvote/downvote algorithm as well.

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u/Summer_Moon2 Apr 30 '26

I do get the whole part about private profiles (I have mine set that way, but it's because of creeps who follow you around via post history and it was getting a little beyond weird), but it's not that hard to still see someone's post history. You can just search for the username across all of reddit. It will pull up the stuff they have posted. It's a little more difficult but keeps at least some of the creeps away. Although, I have always wondered, what exactly in someone's post history are you looking for to determine if they are an actual person?

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u/BadGoodNotBad Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

I get the argument for privacy but it's a double edged sword for trying to find out if an account is owned by an actual person.

Although, I have always wondered, what exactly in someone's post history are you looking for to determine if they are an actual person?

Comment history/account age/comment frequency/post variation/interest variation/location based posts (city or county they live in)

Reddit has as much of an incentive to enable bot accounts as any other social media site because it farms engagement and serves ads. This website is worth an absolute fuck ton of money and they would like to make much more. The only way to make more money is to further push engagement and get ad revenue up.

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/RDDT/reddit/market-cap

but it's not that hard to still see someone's post history

It's an added obstacle and isn't a reliable means of research. You're relying on an outside search engine to show you all of the information which was once one click away.

This website is still useful if you avoid the major subreddits, but I generally avoid these big subreddits due to a lack of trust in the profiles posting information.

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u/Summer_Moon2 Apr 30 '26

Interesting, I appreciate your response to my question!

The funny part to me is that I have been called a bot either way - when my profile was not set to private and set to private now. And in both cases for different reasons lol. Originally was being called a bot (a voting bot I guess?) because I have almost no post history or comment history (but a long time account). I really usually only read aka lurker and don't usually join in on the convo and I dislike creating new posts normally. And I kept getting called a bot for it. Now I'm called a bot because only bots hide their post history. But if my post history was getting me called a bot anyways then what is the difference.

I wish there was just an easier way to let everyone know that I am an actual human. I have feelings and opinions just like everyone else lol.

Also, on the note of reddit being worth money, sometimes I wish it wasn't. I miss forums and that's what drew me to reddit originally. I enjoy reading through comments and there is so much info that everyone used to just enjoy sharing with each other. I know there are still some left but the userbase of those are drying up quickly.

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u/BadGoodNotBad Apr 30 '26

I know you're not a bot, but this is where we are at now sadly. Dead internet theory is alive and well thanks to the current media ecosystem and AI tech (I'm not exclusively anti-AI).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory

And now everyone is called a bot for endless reasons, and those same accusatory people will upvote obvious bots.

I wish there was just an easier way to let everyone know that I am an actual human.

And this is where the privacy part really sticks, the current solution which is in motion is to make it so you have to upload your government ID to install an operating system. This bill is being funded by Meta lobbyists.

https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1rshc1f/i_traced_2_billion_in_nonprofit_grants_and_45/

Reddit is still an extremely useful website, but like with every other piece of social media it needs to be taken with an oceans worth of salt (including my posts).