Fun Zuckbook Fact: TikTok Content Is Really Popular on Facebook
September 5, 2022
I read “It Sure Must Sting for TikToks to Be the Some of the Most Viewed Links on Facebook.” The article is quite interesting, and I want to highlight it because it reveals an interesting facet of online behavior.
The write up points out:
In its newly-released second quarter “Widely Viewed Content Report,” which focuses on U.S. content that appears in users’ feeds, Meta reported that TikTok.com—literally, just the link to the domain itself—accounted for 35.9 million views in users’ feeds. TikTok also made it into Facebook’s most widely viewed domains, where it took the fourth spot, garnering 108 million views.
If accurate, this is like buying a Wall Street Journal for business news and finding that 20 percent or more of the “content” was Google ads for Alphabet services. Where’s the news? one might ask. Well, the presence of the Google full page advertisements is the news in my opinion. But the analogy is imperfect because Facebook’s users are promoting TikTok for free!
I found this statement both interesting and amusing:
… a good chunk of the content being viewed on Facebook is reposted stuff from somewhere else, yesterday’s tired memes. (I’m not talking about posts from your high school friends or your Aunt Dolores, but rather the videos, media, information, etc.) This was echoed by Technology Review, which also noted that the content on Facebook is very spammy.
Observation:
- Facebook is promoting its users to use TikTok… inadvertently.
- New, interesting content is appearing on TikTok. Does this mean Facebook is subliminally suggestion, “Hey, go directly to TikTok and get this stuff in real time?”
- TikTok may be allegedly China-linked but the firm has lawyers. Is this reposting functioning as a stream of useful data and setting up Meta for a copyright allegation of improper reuse?
I am not sure is “must sting” captures what this situation causes. Kidney stone, colonoscopy, or something similar.
Stephen E Arnold, September 5, 2022
Facebook: A Tipping Point and Meta Math
September 2, 2022
I am not going to recycle the financial analysts’ reports about Facebook revenue and “profit.” Nor will I comment on Apple’s decapitation of certain Facebook money spinning. Instead I want to suggest that my research team and I have formulated the notion that Facebook is approaching or at its tipping point.
The evidence to support this fanciful idea is sparse, just two data points. After all, how quickly can a multi billion dollar dorm room dating app disappear when grandmas and grandpas use it to keep in touch with their middle aged “kids.” (Note that grandmas call their female friends “girls.” Amusing indeed.)
Let’s look at the two items of data, quickly of course because this is a free collection of blog posts without advertising or sponsorship. That’s not something one can say about other creators’ outputs.
First, navigate to this story: “Why is Instagram Dying? We Asked 100 Gen Z Users to Compare TikTok vs. Reels.” The write up reveals the results of semi Gen X/Millennial survey. It is pointless to comment about sample size, sample selection, and methodology. Let’s just look at a single finding from the report assuming the modern day math is sort of accurate.
The key bar indicates (without numbers, for sure) that TikTok has better algorithms. The finding, which I assume to be like other Internet-centric content, super accurate. Facebook is not doing numerical recipes in a tasty way.
But Facebook’s switchblade drone move is the chatter about charging users for access to what was a “free” service. As Jack Benny used to say, “Yipe.” “Meta’s Plans to Charge for Facebook and Instagram Could Be the Final Nail in Their Coffins” states:
With Instagram’s currently experiencing a low point due to some unwelcome features, offering a paid option could be the last straw for many, and cause them to move to other social platforms.
What’s the second factor? I have pointed out that the estimable Zuckster is happy to chatter away with a sticker sales professional. However, “Zuckerberg Targeted by House GOP Eager to Probe Hunter Biden” suggests that the Zuckster will have an opportunity to use his famous line “Congressperson, that you for that question. I am sorry I don’t have knowledge of the information. I will send the data you request to your office.” Will the elected officials welcome with enthusiasm an explanation from the highly regarded former liberal democrat leader from the UK to explain how alleged messages from an investigative body were understood by those really social Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram professionals? Dulcet tones may not be what the Congressional representatives want to hear, but who knows? Maybe the British politician can handle the annoying questioners from the Colony.
Will one and one equal three? One is TikTok and two is the opportunity to answer questions about a slippery political topic. My hunch is that the added value to reach three (a truly wonderful prime) is the ad revenue. If this tipping point is reached the one plus one may resolve to mysterious negative sum.
Worth watching. The Zuck is entertaining to observe from my vantage point in rural Kentucky. It will be instructive to watch how the math resolves at the Meta tipping point. The one plus one could result in a new magic number called the zuckup. One plus one equals a zuckup. I am not sure it will find much favor in some cohorts, particularly among TikTok users.
Stephen E Arnold, September 2, 2022
Zuck Play: Joe Rogan In, Judge Chhabria Out
September 1, 2022
I read “Facebook to Settle Cambridge Analytica Suit, Save Zuckerberg From Testifying.” The title caught my attention for two reasons.
First, Mr. Zuckerberg, the affable wizard of Meta stuff, appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast. On that podcast, he talked about many things. Since I don’t pay for podcasts, I have only second hand information. For me, the key point was he talked.
Joe Rogan stickers are available by clicking the tasteful image in this blog post. Beyond Search does not have a deal with either Mr. Rogan or Amazon. (I have very good reasons for this posture.)
Second, Mr. Zuckerberg did not talk to the legal eagles associated with the Cambridge Analytica matter in the Northern District of California court. To avoid having to talk, Mr. Zuckerberg’s estimable outfit paid money to the United Kingdom (500,000 pounds or about $560,000) and an unknown amount to the Northern District of California court.
I assume this image is the property of Meta and Facebook.
I wonder why.
Mr. Rogan’s background shares one thing with the Zuck: DNF or did not finish college. Mr. Rogan’s occupation according to the rock-solid Wikipedia is “Podcaster, color commentator, comedian, actor, and television presenter.”
The Honorable Vince Chhabria has an okay background too; to wit: A law degree from UC Berkeley, law clerk for Justice Stephen G Breyer, work at a so so law firm called Covington & Burling, and some work as the Deputy City Attorney for Government Litigation as the Co Chief of Appellate Litigation.
On the surface, it seems that the Zuck feels more comfortable with a color commentator than a college graduate who probably is not too good at martial arts, kite sailing, and social media.
My take: Mr. Meta is looking for an audience which may be slightly less skeptical of the wondrous “bring us together” methods of the social media quasi-monopolies.
That’s just a guess. Podcasting is probably less challenging to a Silicon Valley luminary than talking to some wonk who reads books, depositions, and legal documents. I wonder if the bright star of Meta picked up some of Mr. Rogan’s merchandise. I am thinking maybe these two trend setters swapped tchotchkes.
Stephen E Arnold, September 1, 2022
Meta: What Does the Modern MySpace Do?
August 24, 2022
Frankly I don’t know what the Zuck and his team of wizards can do. I read “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022.” The link leads to a study summary, a page of general info, and a summary of the Pew methodology.
One finding from the survey mavens at Pew Research caught my attention. If the methodology was on the money and the data processed in a way that kept the butcher’s thumb off the weighing pan, here’s a thrilling statement:
the share of teens who say they use Facebook, a dominant social media platform among teens in the Center’s 2014-15 survey, has plummeted from 71% then to 32% today.
In the span of 72 months, the Zuckbook watched teens who are considered a part of the future of the datasphere shift to short form videos. The write up included one of those charts colored in such a way to make legibility a bit of a joke. Here’s a screenshot with the bold blue line heading south. Note that despite the legibility, the other lines are heading up. YouTube is a floating dot at the top of the chart because, well, YouTube. Quasi-monopoly. Most popular online service in the “Stans.”
Should YouTube be worried? Not yet. The write up reports:
About three-quarters of teens visit YouTube at least daily, including 19% who report using the site or app almost constantly.
For more Pew data, follow the links in the cited article.
There’s not much analysis of the whys and wherefores, but the data are clear. The allegedly Chinese linked outfit TikTok has access to useful data from young people. What could a crafty person do with these data? Wait until one cluster identified as susceptible individuals and then approach or attempt to influence them.
Stephen E Arnold, August 24, 2022
High School Science Club Management Goes Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
August 17, 2022
I read the stories about Facebook and Google trying to manage their paid humanoids. Both companies, not surprisingly, are pulling tips from the “Universal Guide to Running a High School Science Club” and its Annex 1: Never Do These Things. The two estimable companies skipped the Annex. Why read something at the back of a user manual. That’s for those who are smart, just not brilliant.
Among the tips in my copy of the Universal Guide was this one: “Never tell a fellow science club member to work harder.”
Another precept was: “Never tell a fellow science club member to quit if the alleged humanoid did not like what the president told them to do.
Both Facebook and Google appear to have pushed to the “work harder” and “go away” approach. Brilliant, right?
Even the Silicon Valley type of “real” news outfit Protocol published an article focusing on this management approach. “Don’t Be Meta or Google: How to Tell Workers They Need to Be More Productive” has some management advice for the fellow travelers; to wit:
the idea that underperforming individuals are solely responsible for their companies’ large-scale financial troubles is probably inaccurate, and you don’t want your productivity pep talk to give that impression. Launching a companywide campaign to improve productivity is absolutely reasonable, as long as you’re not alienating employees in the process.
Yes, Harvard Business School, here we come!
I am not sure what’s crazier: The management methods of the high school science club or the faux-Drucker inputs from a “real” news Silicon Valley type online publication.
The write up adds:
Sharing a specific game plan to improve productivity is key to avoiding chaos.
Yes, is the corollary “sharing is caring”?
That method was not part of the Woodruff High School Science Club in Central Illinois. My fellow members believed themselves to be budding wizards. One of the best and brightest had his first date and ran the train signal. The train won. Not a best nor brightest moment as I recall.
“Management” was, in my opinion, a no show at some of the zippy Silicon Valley outfits for which I labored until I threw in the dead fish in 2013. The idea that the methods of a high school science club would contribute to management science would have been laughable about a decade ago. Now that Facebook and Google type outfits have to manage, the adolescent guidelines of the unread Annex seem oddly appropriate.
Had Google solved death, Mr. Drucker would be available to provide some management guidance to the “real news” and the Facebooks and Googles of the world. I am not sure “don’ts” work… at all.
Stephen E Arnold, August 17, 2022
A Meta-Coincidence? Absolutely. Pure Chance from the Zucksters
August 15, 2022
I noted to separate news items about Meta (formerly Zuckbook).
The first item “WhatsApp Boss Says No to AI Filters Policing Encrypted Chat” reports:
Will Cathcart, who has been at parent company Meta for more than 12 years and head of WhatsApp since 2019, told the BBC that the popular communications service wouldn’t downgrade or bypass its end-to-end encryption (EE2E) just for British snoops, saying it would be “foolish” to do so and that WhatsApp needs to offer a consistent set of standards around the globe. “If we had to lower security for the world, to accommodate the requirement in one country, that … would be very foolish for us to accept, making our product less desirable to 98 percent of our users because of the requirements from 2 percent,” Cathcart told the broadcaster. “What’s being proposed is that we – either directly or indirectly through software – read everyone’s messages. I don’t think people want that.”
Okay, customer centricity, clear talk, and sincere. Remember this is the Zuck outfit talking. With regulations making visible functions that some believe have been running on certain high-traffic nodes for some time, the principled stand of the Zuck’s WhatsApp is interesting. Keep in mind that the comments, according to the cited article were made on the BBC and referenced a desire to have child porn monitoring implemented. Yep, the Brexit outfit rejected by the Zuck outfit.
The second item with a bigly, Google-ized headline “Nick Clegg Joins Exodus of Silicon Valley Execs in Return to London: Ex-Deputy PM Will Split Time between UK and California to Spend More Time with Elderly Parents – After Instagram Boss Also Moved to the Capital” states:
In its results last week, Meta’s total costs and expenses increased 22 per cent year on year in the first quarter, while headcount was up 32 per cent. Net income plunged by 36 percent compared to the previous quarter, to $6.7 billion.
Coincidence? Nope, revenue crash, Kardashian pushback on Instagram changes, EU and UK government scrutiny, and job opportunities for the next prime minister. Just chance. These coincidences say to me, “Yo, big trouble ahead because who wants to move in today’s travel unfriendly, Covid and Monkeypox ravaged environment?.” Obviously the Zucksters do.
Stephen E Arnold, August 15, 2022
Another Facebook Innovation: Imitating Twitch
August 11, 2022
I don’t know if the information in “Meta Is Testing a New Live Streaming Super Platform for Influencers Called Super.” I like the name of the alleged new Einsteinian-grade service. It’s super.k
The article reports:
The new platform allows influencers to host live streams, earn revenue and engage with viewers. The company has reportedly paid influencers between $200 and $3,000 to use the platform for 30 minutes.
How is the Zuckster’s Super new Super going to lure those who produce Twitchy stuff? The write up says:
Meta has recently reached out to multiple creators asking them to try out the new project. The platform, which looks to have similar functionality to Twitch, is currently being tested with fewer than 100 creators, including tech influencer Andru Edwards and TikTok star Vienna Skye.
My hunch is that Zuckbucks are going to be needed to “lure” some talent. Microsoft demonstrated its ability to create a streaming service not too long ago. Remember that? Yeah, neither does anyone on my research team. I wonder if MSFT’s CFO has any records of the money paid to a certain game streamer. Nah. Of course not.
The creativity of the Zucksters is amazing. Super in fact.
Stephen E Arnold, August 11, 2022
Zucking Up: The Instagram Innovation
August 1, 2022
I read a bonkers article about Instagram (a Zucked up property of the Zuckbook empire). You can get the allegedly accurate information from this article: “Instagram Knows You Don’t Like Its Changes. It Doesn’t Care.” I know that “real journalists” select and maybe shape information to fit into the good old pyramid method of real news craftsmanship. For the purposes of this blog post, let’s just go with the flow like good GenXers do and believe everything in the article. Keep in mind that Zucksters are flexible. The TikTok emulation is a word in progress, pending approval from the Jenner-Kardashian Consulting Company.
But here we go anyway:
- The Zuckbook does not care what its addicts — oh, sorry, I mean users — think. [This is something new?]
- Kim Kardashian does not like Instagram de-Instagraming itself and getting digital plastic surgery to be more like TikTok? [Yeah, plastic surgery can disappoint. Ms Kardashian might be able to provide some additional information on this back story.]
- There’s a “don’t change Instagram” petition with an alleged 190,000 signatures. [How many are sock puppets’ inputs?]
- Picketers appeared outside the Zuckster’s New York office. [Did anyone in Manhattan notice or even care? If I were still working in the Big Apple, I would have crossed to the other side of the street and kept on going to a meeting at 245 Park Avenue or 101 Park Avenue South, both former dinobaby offices from the ancient days of work.]
- Two “meme account administrators” handcuffed themselves to the Instagram office doors. [Well, not good if someone like me wanted to exit quickly in order to be on time for a really important dinobaby meeting. I can hear myself saying, “Hey, sorry about breaking your wrist. Gotta run. Let’s have lunch.]
One thing is clear: Another Zuckup. Advertisers will be thrilled with this publicity, won’t they?
Now what if this write up has been crafted from the addled thoughts of a sci-fan loopy on Game of Thrones re-runs? Definitely a bad look for the Zucksters.
Stephen E Arnold, August 1, 2022
Facebook to News Partners: Spike That!
August 1, 2022
I assume news publications can still advertise on the Zuckbook. However, if the information in “Scoop: Meta Officially Cuts Funding for U.S. News Publishers” is accurate, the Zucker has said, “Spike that paying for news deal.” The allegedly spot on write up states:
As the company moves forward with sweeping changes to the Facebook experience, news has become less of a priority. Meta’s VP of media partnerships, Campbell Brown, told staffers the company was shifting resources away from its news products to support more creative initiatives…
And what might “creative” mean? Perhaps more me-too innovations?
Last year, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said fewer than one in every 25 posts in the News Feed contained links to a news story.
So creative means perhaps generating engagement, clicks, and money. News fails apparently as a creative initiative? I was under the impression that fake news was creative. Whoops, wrong again. How much “real news” does TikTok provide? From a person with access to user log data, pretty creative. From a person who just inhales crunchy short videos, not too much.
I think that the Zucker thing is trying to change. That’s good. Anyone signing a contract with the Zuck may face the “spike that” approach to relationship building. I would suggest we change the “spike that” to “Zuck you”. Will that fly in the metaverse?
Stephen E Arnold, August 1, 2022
Meta Makes a Show of Measures to Protect Kids
July 29, 2022
A pair of articles reveals a bit of Zuckbook adulting. Isn’t it amazing what some bad press can provoke? First up, The Verge tells us “Instagram Will Start Nudging Teens Away from Content they Continuously Browse Through.” While this move does not specifically protect against harmful content, it is meant to discourage teens from obsessing on one topic by proposing alternatives to explore. Notably, suggestions will exclude something that already has Meta in hot water—content that promotes appearance comparison. Another Instagram effort has its “Take a Break” feature suggesting teens go do something else if they have been perusing Reels “for a while.” (Just how long a while is left unstated.) Writer Emma Roth also tells us:
“Lastly, Instagram is making some adjustments to its existing parental controls. The platform will now let parents send invites to their kids asking to gain access to parental supervision tools, something only teens were previously able to initiate. Parents can also see information on what types of posts or accounts their child reports, as well as gain more control over the time their teen spends on Instagram.”
As much as Instagram has been shown to cause harm to young people, the VR metaverse is already proving to be even worse. Mashable reports, “Meta Expands Parental Controls, Including Virtual Reality Monitoring.” The update lets parents block certain apps, view their kid’s friends list and activity, and require parental approval for purchases. It can also disable a headset feature that otherwise lets kids access blocked content on their PCs. All of this is accompanied by an informative “parent education hub” for guidance on using the parental controls (a feature the kiddos are bound to find very helpful.) Writer Chase DiBeneditto elaborates:
“Following the launch of Meta’s Horizon Worlds — a VR ‘creator space’ for users to connect and build virtual worlds — and it’s new ‘safety-focused’ features, users and researchers alike expressed concern that young users would still be easily exposed to unmoderated hate speech and harassment. Meta later added a ‘garbled voices’ filter to Horizon Worlds that turned the voice chats of VR strangers into unintelligible, friendly sounds, and a ‘personal boundary’ feature to hopefully block harassment by uninvited users. Then in May, Meta announced new locking tools to block specific apps from a user’s Quest headset in response to concerns that teens and children with unsupervised access were being exposed to inappropriate virtual reality spaces.”
Meta has certainly gone to a lot of effort to appear like it is protecting kids as it profits off them. If we are lucky, some of these PR defense tactics will actually do some good.
Cynthia Murrell, July 29, 2022
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