Zuckerberg says he's redirected Facebook teams to serve young adults over older users, and that significant changes to Instagram will lean into video and Reels

Expect changes to Instagram to highlight Reels — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he's redirected teams within his company to …

The Verge 2021-10-26 Jacob Kastrenakes

Context & Ripple Effects

Facebook's video shift was already underway: Zuckerberg said video represented nearly half of time spent on the service and identified Reels as its largest engagement-growth contributor. Redirecting teams toward young adults turns that engagement signal into an explicit audience-allocation priority.

The Instagram move also foreshadows its later plan to consolidate video around Reels. Related coverage says Instagram had separately altered recommendations and promoted teen-friendly influencers to bring younger users back, making the team shift part of a broader retention effort rather than a standalone format change.

First-order effects

Facebook teams are being reassigned to prioritize young adults, while Instagram product changes will give video and Reels greater emphasis.
Older users lose relative priority in Facebook's internal product focus as Instagram's video experience is organized more tightly around Reels.

Second-order effects

Creators seeking younger audiences have a stronger incentive to make Reels, because Instagram's product emphasis and teen-oriented recommendation work favor that format.
Instagram's video-product strategy moves toward a single distribution surface, reducing the strategic importance of maintaining distinct video formats.

Third-order effects

If Meta maintains this allocation, engagement platforms will increasingly compete for younger users through recommendation-led short video rather than through broadly uniform social feeds.
The later move to make short new video posts Reels and recommend public short videos beyond followers shows how a format priority can become a default distribution rule.

The trend: Meta is concentrating product teams, recommendations, and video formats around Reels to rebuild younger-user engagement.

Discussion

@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
🚨Whoa. Major news from Zuckerberg: He says Facebook moving forward will “retooling” to make “serving young adults the north star, rather than optimizing for older people.” — Says the “shift will take years, not months.”
@granick Jennifer Granick on x
Much of the commentary I see argues that @FrancesHaugen's critique of Facebook's content moderation is correct, but her anti-cryptography stance is wrong. I think the one mistake points to the other. FB will never get moderation “right” because that is impossible.
@esaagar Saagar Enjeti on x
The only FB story that really matters is their internal data showing it's mostly a boomer product fading in relevancy. Yet it dominates national/politico conversation of tech. The future is not FB, even they will tell you so
@mediaevan Evan DeSimone on x
Isn't this what every Facebook acquisition for the last decade has been about? https://twitter.com/...
@themaxburns Max Burns on x
It's telling that Zuckerberg sees the business as separate from and in a sense protected from thorny conversations about things like “values” https://twitter.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
The genocide in Myanmar should have been a hint that Facebook does bad things. Apparently though the last straw for the ‘civic integrity team’ was the disbanding of the ‘civic integrity team.’ The narcissism is so off the charts. https://twitter.com/...
@caslernoel NoelCaslerComedy on x
Hey ‘young adults’ good news, you know that social media platform you wouldn't be caught dead on because you don't want your creepy MAGA uncle writing ‘noice’ every time you post pics of your girlfriends? They're retooling to cater to you specifically now. @Facebook
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
I think Facebook should remove older users once a year in a terrifying all-night purge https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
To stay relevant in tech, you can't transition to peacetime, you will always need a wartime CEO. This is a mistake that Microsoft made with Ballmer and Uber has made with Dara. https://www.theverge.com/...
@jonfavs Jon Favreau on x
So you're saying Mark Zuckerberg is accusing large media platforms of selectively showing people content that leaves them angry and misinformed? https://twitter.com/...
@briannawu Brianna Wu on x
If the #FacebookFiles teach the media anything, it's that there is zero reason to believe anything that comes out of Zuckerburg's lying mouth. Seriously, it's a deliberate pattern of serial dishonesty and tergiversation. Why even report what he says at this point? https://twitter…
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Why do we care what Zuckerberg says publicly? He says stuff that's not true all the time. This whole thing has become a boring soap opera of Silicon Valley/media insiders sniping at the best way to control the masses. Just break up the company and put him in jail already. https:/…
@annemariebridy Annemarie Bridy on x
Surprise! The future of Facebook is TikTok. https://twitter.com/...
@mattgaetz Matt Gaetz on x
The Facebook “scandal” is a false flag intended to justify an oncoming wave of censorship against the Right. https://twitter.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
I've fucking had it with the Facebook “controversies.” There's nothing new here. We know what to do. Break-ups and jail. We don't need to be lectured to by yet another wealthy savior-complex ‘civic integrity team’ snob. Just fucking govern.
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
More on this: Zuck said that over the past few years, Facebook's services were designed “to be better for a wide swath” of people “instead of specifically for young adults.” He sites competition from iMessage and TikTok.
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
I can't think of another company that has near 100 percent market share of adults that's like, this situation is an existential threat https://www.theverge.com/...
@maxthegirl Max Weiss on x
Oh good because the real Facebook crisis is that it's not attracting enough young people (and here I thought it was the fact that its entire profit model is predicated on SPREADING LETHAL DISINFORMATION). https://twitter.com/...
@juddlegum Judd Legum on x
Extremely revealing quote. Zuckerberg apparently doesn't believe stuff related to “values” are part of Facebook's “business” https://twitter.com/...
@ditzkoff Dave Itzkoff on x
introducing our new corporate mascot, Joe Facebook, the cool cartoon character in sunglasses who posts about election conspiracy theories https://twitter.com/...
@baekdal Thomas Baekdal on x
I follow several YouTube photography channels who are all griping about Instagram already. They will definitely not like this. https://twitter.com/...
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
Of the dozens of Facebook Paper stories that hit today, the ones suggesting that the youth are fleeing the company have clearly rattled the tech giant. https://twitter.com/...
@paulachertok Paula Chertok on x
Shocker: Zuckerberg takes a page from the authoritarian propaganda playbook, gaslighting that the massive trove of @Facebook's own documents are being “selectively” used to paint a “false” picture of victim FB. Zuckerberg might as well have called the #FacebookPapers “fake news” …
@paulconstant Paul Constant on x
You can't buy cool. Facebook is stuck with the anti-vaxx grannies and goateed Trump dads. There's no coming back from that. https://twitter.com/...
@rschooley Schooley on x
Zuckerberg personally making the sort of tricky geopolitical calls that generally require the expertise of a well staffed state department seems inevitably catastrophic. https://twitter.com/...
@fmanjoo Farhad Manjoo on x
Facebook: it will take us years to quit boomers https://twitter.com/...
@jonlovett Jon Lovett on x
Facebook, the famous social media platform for older conservatives and conspiracy theorists, is considering ways to attract young people to its bulletin boards from hell https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
this is a nauseating and embarrassing enthusiastic sales snow job by someone with absolutely zero remaining credibility or trust as a CEO of a major tech company let alone one the one with the greatest impact on global information, civil society and democracy. /1
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Zuckerberg's focus on young adults means all of Facebook is going to start to look like TikTok. Bet on it. https://twitter.com/...
@pixelatedboat @pixelatedboat on x
Nice try, Zuckerberg, but Facebook will always be for 80 year olds who see a post that says “name a bird” and reply with “bird” https://twitter.com/...
@joncoopertweets @joncoopertweets on x
Changing Facebook's name won't help, Zuck. Change your fucking algorithm.
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
Pivoting to making kids hopelessly depressed. https://twitter.com/...
@pearkes George Pearkes on x
*FACEBOOK 3Q REV. $29.01B, EST. $29.45B *FACEBOOK 3Q AD REV. $28.28B, EST. $28.99B *FACEBOOK 3Q EPS $3.22, EST. $3.17 *FACEBOOK 3Q MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS 2.91B, EST. 2.92B Finally, a real miss for a big tech name.
@sherman4949 Alex Sherman on x
As expected, seeing a bunch of “despite all the news, Facebook still making money” tweets. But that's the wrong sentiment. The news has been centered around Facebook prioritizing its business. There's no “despite” sentiment here.
@thestalwart Joe Weisenthal on x
$FB +2.6% pre-market https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
It's because FRL is a cash suck. Long term investments in the future that will bring down overall profitability. they want to show that facebook still makes monney with its family of apps, i.e. FB, IG, WA, Messenger
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
And OK, maybe some people believe (or believed) that FB actually could (or did) achieve great success in detecting and removing things like hate speech. Those people may include lawmakers or staffers who heard this pitch from platforms. There is no excuse for that fallacy now.
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
OK, investments only Facebook and Google can afford. And literally no one else. Regulating the whole Internet as if it were Facebook (or Google) is madness. And it's madness that serves incumbent megaplatforms' interests.
@rightsduff Kat Duffy on x
👇💯and it goes beyond content moderation. Facebook has poured $$$ into research/product. It's still not enough, and still doesn't work. We need laws/regs that envision a post-FB world where SMEs (esp. non-American and -European) can innovate, scale, *and* respect human rights. htt…
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
This remark should be a giant red flag about laws that would effectively require every potential competitor to make investments only Facebook can afford, in pursuit of results that only Facebook believes it has achieved. https://twitter.com/...
@mylesudland Myles Udland on x
“Starting with our results for Q4, we plan to break out Facebook Reality Labs, or FRL, as a separate reporting segment... We expect our investment in FRL to reduce our overall operating profit in 2021 by approximately $10 billion.” https://investor.fb.com/...
@chandrarsrikant Chandra R. Srikanth on x
“Metaverse is a major area of investment & an imp part of our strategy going forward. Our goal is to help metaverse reach a billion people and hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce this decade,” Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg. By @tsuvik https://www.moneycontrol…
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
wouldn't be shocked if this is the last time we get Facebook blue-specific metrics, which is something management has signaled will happen eventually (blue app growth has plateaued) next quarter the company will break out Reality Labs and “Family of Apps” as their own segments
@sleepwellcap @sleepwellcap on x
$FB revenues up a cool 35% y/y Total expenses up 39% EBIT 36% vs 37% y/y New reporting segments FoA: Family of Apps (fb/ig/wa) FRL: Facebook Reality Labs (ar/vr software, hardware, content) Getting serious about the Metaverse.
@carolinehydetv Caroline Hyde on x
So FB slightly misses on 3Q numbers, warns of uncertainty 4Q...but then offers more buyback which may be helping stock...+2.7% after hours >3.5b ppl use one if its apps each moth. Zuck doubling down on Metaverse future with new segment Facebook Reality Labs.
@jank0 Janko Roettgers on x
Holy moly Facebook is spending $10B plus on AR / VR and metaverse apps and services this year, is warning investors that spending will increase in coming years. https://www.protocol.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
just saying that creating a holding company with multiple reporting segments is a good move ahead of a big corporate rebrand that will distance you from the segment that is growing the slowest 🙃
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
every news organization on earth today: Facebook bad Facebook: we're gonna spend ten billion dollars this year on the metaverse
@matt_cochrane7 Matthew Cochrane on x
If you can spend your way to operational success, the Oculus and $FB's vision for the metaverse is going to happen. (I get it: It takes more than spending. Still, Zuck is all in on this. I'm not going to be the one to bet against it). https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
You aren't a successful big tech company until you have some other bets category that costs billions a year to show you can still innovate. https://www.protocol.com/...
@rosemontseneca @rosemontseneca on x
with all that buyback money $FB could just acquire $U and $RBLX and jumpstart their Metaverse initiative...
@jank0 Janko Roettgers on x
Also: Starting to break out AR/VR/hardware in Q4 is obvs. smart, as that is when a lot of those devices are being bought.
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
3.58 billion people use Facebook's family of apps, up 12% over last year. The company made $28.2 billion last quarter, up 33% over last year.
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
interesting moves: 1. FB is authorizing a $50 billion share buyback plan 2. More interesting, it's breaking out financial reporting of Facebook Reality Labs, the wing of FB responsible for Oculus, VR, AR etc.
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Facebook narrowly missed on revenue and beat on earnings expectations. Rumors of its demise are exaggerated. $FB https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
metaverse cometh https://twitter.com/...
@jamesliamcook James Cook on x
The bewildering scale of recent leaked document stories such as today's Facebook Files and the Pandora Papers make it difficult for readers to consume and understand the news. How are casual readers meant to digest all of this, for example? https://www.protocol.com/...
@alex @alex on x
whoops https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
investors love a for-profit company that prioritizes profit https://twitter.com/...
@post_market Post M. on x
Despite all the hemming and hawing the House of Zuck added an incremental 1.5 Twitters in sales this quarter versus the same quarter last year. Rock solid. Spending capex like a drunken sailor though.
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
$FB will now report 2 segments: 1 segment that makes all the money, and another that spends it https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Did we find out yet what happens to #Facebook's domestic servitude ad revenue? #FacebookPapers
@maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x
There is a lot to worry about here—and reason to believe that Facebook will get worse. If Facebook's core business isn't growing as quickly anymore, it will be even more inclined to manipulate users and to use its massive war chest to buy competitors and legislators. https://twit…
@morningbrew @morningbrew on x
Facebook Q3 earnings ▫️ EPS: $3.22 vs. $3.20 Expected ▫️ Revenue: $29.0B vs. $29.6B Expected ▫️ MAUs of 2.91B as of September 30, up 6% YoY In short: still a money making machine with a boatload of users.
@abbyfuller Abby Fuller on x
“We would have made more money if you hadn't started tracking us” is probably not the solid defense they think it is. https://twitter.com/...
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
Sheryl on Apple's privacy changes: “The accuracy of our ads targeting decreased, which increase the cost of driving outcomes for advertisers, and the other is that measuring those outcomes became more difficult.”
@samifathi_ Sami Fathi on x
New Story: Facebook is attempting to blame Apple for dim performance this quarter, claiming that privacy rules in iOS are “negatively affecting” the business. At the same time, Zuckerberg says the changes could turn out to be in Facebook's favor. Details: https://www.macrumors.co…
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
Zuckerberg opens Facebook earnings call acknowledging @Apple IDFA changes impacting its business then moves to acknowledge Facebook Papers: “What we're seeing is a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to pint a false picture of our company.”
@migueldeicaza @migueldeicaza on x
Given the recent news, when I greet a friend and I discover that they switched from Android to iOS: https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Listen to what Sandberg is saying - Facebook isn't getting full credit for conversions from ads on their platform. Publishers for years have been forced into performance metrics where Google and Facebook claim credit for the advertising. She has no answer on targeting. Ouch. /7
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
I would very much want to know mix of iOS and Android revenue in Q3 2021 vs 2020 - rest of market is headed in iOS direction. Right now, either they're either circumventing apple (unlikely), driving up prices with market power (likely), or recapturing thru Android (probably). /5
@migueldeicaza @migueldeicaza on x
Friends, I mean that iOS is the system that has slowed down Facebook's universal desire to spy on you. When Android joins us in App Tracking Transparency, I'll welcome them to the resistance as well.
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
2/ Facebook Papers loomed large in the call but that feels like a media narrative that exists in isolation from the company's performance and certainly the stock. Advertisers dont care.
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
3/ This seems like what Sheryl was alluding to in terms of recovering 1/2 of attribution over the remainder of 2021. Im a little skeptical. Feels like it requires a high degree of collaboration that may or may not be feasible https://github.com/...
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
4/ Snap was flogged by the market primarily, IMO, because it did a poor job of setting expectations (not sure I buy the auction density explanation — remember that FB missed rev expectations too, by almost $600MM). FB acknowledged ATT pain last Q which served its interests this Q
@richlightshed Rich Greenfield on x
Facebook's Zuckerberg comes out swinging on Q3 2021 earnings call - reiterating Apple's privacy changes as directly hurting small businesses around the world who are trying to recover from the pandemic $FB @Facebook similar to the @nytimes ad Facebook took out earlier this year h…
@badlogicgames Mario Zechner on x
@migueldeicaza Imma let you finish, but Apple's commendable action has had zero effect on Facebook's deprived business antics. https://twitter.com/...
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
5/ Overall I feel the same tonight as I did last Q: https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
I'm trying to keep track of his adversaries he's trying to paint and neuter with these prepared remarks: So far I've logged: - apple's privacy improvements - the whistleblower's leaking - free and plural press “coordinating” - antitrust enforcers GTFO with the metaverse. /2
@anthony Anthony DeRosa on x
Facebook's ad sales, its primary revenue source, saw slower growth in the first full quarter since Apple in April started requiring apps to ask users whether they want to be tracked $FB https://www.wsj.com/...
@dnaltews Brian Swetland on x
@migueldeicaza I'm not here to defend Google (plenty of issues there, many contributing to me deciding to leave), but I have some serious issues with portraying Apple as some scrappy underdog “resistance” movement.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Snap CEO supported Apple's privacy changes. Sheryl Sandberg is about to lay out all of the problems it's causing for the company while not supporting them and instead trying to still hug small business. Every word should be parsed. /3
@eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
FB earnings: $50BN in buybacks offsets the acknowledged frictions from ATT / IDFA deprecation. Facebook clearly has a plan for remediating ATT frictions. ATT seems mostly baked into the price (FB acknowledged ATT pains last Q and stock was punished after $SNAP call) (1/X)
@dnaltews Brian Swetland on x
@migueldeicaza Yes, by all means, we should cheer for the megacorp with the most locked down ecosystems, oppressive developer practices, and highest profit margins, actively trying to destroy general purpose compute in favor of centrally controlled vertically integrated appliance…

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