Social networks need more and more users to increase revenue or attract new advertisers by demonstrating engagement rates. But in 2022, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was considering an idea so absurd that the board of directors might be glad it wasn’t implemented. Internal correspondence presented during the antitrust trial shows: Zuckerberg suggested removing the Facebook friends list to encourage people to use the platform more.
This idea came to him amid concerns that «the cultural significance of Facebook was rapidly diminishing». Mark Zuckerberg proposed to reset the list of friends every year, effectively starting from scratch. To avoid massive outrage, Zuckerberg wanted to test this in a small country. He emphasized that Facebook’s failure would mean the failure of the entire company, even if Instagram and WhatsApp remained successful projects.
Tom Ellison, the head of Facebook, expressed doubts about this idea, because «friend count» — one of the key functions of the network.
When an FTC lawyer asked about it during the hearing, Zuckerberg confirmed that the company had abandoned the plan. Instead, Meta is focusing on improving the design and user experience.
Recently was reported about Facebook’s plans to introduce artificial users based on AI Studio.
I wonder what other crazy ideas arise in the minds of CEOs of large IT companies?
Source: wccftech
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