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Facebook Social Networks

Facebook Says It's Refocusing Company on 'Serving Young Adults' (theverge.com) 173

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he's redirected teams within his company to "make serving young adults their north star." The comment, made on a call with investors this afternoon, speaks to Facebooks' concerns about declining usage among teens and young adults. From a report: "So much of our services have gotten dialed to be the best for the most people who use them, rather than specifically for young adults," Zuckerberg said. He suggested the change will be more than just lip service. Facebook usage among older users will grow slower than it otherwise would have because of the changes, Zuckerberg said. Even with those tradeoffs, he said, "I think it's the right approach." Zuckerberg expects the changes to take years. One of the more immediate shifts could be to Instagram, which he says will see "significant changes" to lean further into video and make Reels "a more central part of the experience."
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Facebook Says It's Refocusing Company on 'Serving Young Adults'

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  • Wait, what? Young adults? This wonâ(TM)t be good for stockholders or profits. Way to invite more criticism.

    • Fb should be forced to adopt a paid subscription model and no free accounts or external free / anonymous access from the internet. Of course no one would pay, so it would just demonstrate how shitty their products really are.
      • by nitehawk214 ( 222219 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @11:57AM (#61928779)

        But what they would actually do is collect a subscription AND sell user's data.

      • I agree that people should have to pay to post but think that one should also pay to receive posts. The reason is that it will silence the nitwits. I think we have a feedback cycle where bad ideas find each other and mutually fertilizer one another. I would even pay to post on slashdot, but my biggest concern for the spread of bad ideas is from posts sent to strangers who aren't even in one's mailing lists. Strangers don't know if the sender is an idiot or not and that they should ignore everything the send
        • by NFN_NLN ( 633283 )

          > The reason is that it will silence the nitwits.

          So smart people who wouldn't waste their money on facebook posting rights are the nitwits. And the people who pay a subscription to post garbage on social media are the big brains?

          Or to put it in terms your TDS can relate: Rich and evil Republican Trumpers can easily pay to have many accounts but impoverished minorities will need to choose between electricity or posting on facebook. Boogie boogie boo!

    • by spun ( 1352 ) <loverevolutionary&yahoo,com> on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:03PM (#61928807) Journal

      Every company wants to cater to young adults. Young adults have don't have fully formed habits and preferences. You can hook them for life if you do it right. I like Coke because that's what my family drank. If we drank Pepsi, I'm sure I'd prefer that.

      Older people already have set habits, it's harder to install brand loyalty in older people. You don't need to cater to them because you either made them customers when they were younger, or you probably won't get them at all.

      Cater to the young, because they grow older and still buy the same things. Haven't you noticed how commercial culture has always catered to the young?

      • by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:19PM (#61928883)

        Every company wants to cater to young adults. Young adults have don't have fully formed habits and preferences. You can hook them for life if you do it right. I like Coke because that's what my family drank. If we drank Pepsi, I'm sure I'd prefer that.

        Debatable. Mom was Pepsi, I was Coco Rico (coconut soda) and Coke.

        I get what you're saying tho.

        But as I got older, around my mid-30's, I just dropped it all. Unbranded t-shirts. Unbranded everything. I refuse to display anyone's logos on my person.

        Older people have the capacity to tell the corporations "Fuck off, I don't need your overpriced poison / propaganda /shoddily made fashion statement"

        I believe younger folk have this ability too -- if they'd only care to use it more.

        • Also, young people haven't fully developed their critical thinking skills. FB basically is saying we really don't want to work that hard for people who are capable of criticizing us and rejecting our premise... instead lets target people who will gobble it up and become our staunchest defenders.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        "Brands" also cater to the young because they are irresponsible and blow wads of cash and credit (probably mostly credit) on useless things. *cough*Supreme*cough* *cough*Apple*cough* (Examples Supreme t-shirts, an otherwise $5-10 plain white t-shirt that costs $100+ because it has a red Supreme logo silk screened on it. Or the apple polishing cloth) As people grow older they also usually grow wiser and cut back on the frivolous spending.
      • Older people already have set habits, it's harder to install brand loyalty in older people.

        Not to mention that sooner or later people realize that brand loyalty is dumb.

        I like Coke because that's what my family drank. If we drank Pepsi, I'm sure I'd prefer that.

        Try a Pepsi every now and then. Get out of your comfort zone.

        • by spun ( 1352 )

          Actually don't drink soda anymore. My wife got gastric surgery and can't drink soda anymore so I gave it up as well.

          • Then find another way to get out of your comfort zone. And no brand loyalty!

          • Actually don't drink soda anymore. My wife got gastric surgery and can't drink soda anymore so I gave it up as well.

            Do you drink bottled water? Pepsi would prefer you drank Aquafina rather than Dasani.
            Do you drink Gatorade? Also a Pepsi product.
            How about those Naked smoothies? Also Pepsi.
            Lipton tea? Pepsi.
            Tropicana orange juice? Pepsi.

            Then, there's their non-beverage things.
            Quaker Oatmeal? Pepsi.
            Ruffles, Tostito's, or Lay's? Pepsi.
            Rice-a-Roni? Pepsi.
            Taco Bell? Yum! Brands, owned by Pepsi.

            Pepsi Cola is one thing is a very long list of many more ancillary and unrelated things.

            The point is, Pepsi has no shortage of brands w

            • by spun ( 1352 )

              And in five years, that roster off brands may be completely different. But the people who own 90% of it all will be the same people. Brands get traded back and forth so often these days, it's dizzying. Much harder for consumers to make informed choices when the information is in constant flux.

      • Every company wants to cater to young adults. Young adults have don't have fully formed habits and preferences. You can hook them for life if you do it right. I like Coke because that's what my family drank. If we drank Pepsi, I'm sure I'd prefer that.

        Older people already have set habits, it's harder to install brand loyalty in older people. You don't need to cater to them because you either made them customers when they were younger, or you probably won't get them at all.

        Cater to the young, because they grow older and still buy the same things. Haven't you noticed how commercial culture has always catered to the young?

        There is that money item though. The young today have the "Okay Boomer" mindset, in that the olde farts have all of the money, and that they are all poor and victims.

        How do you make money off of people who have no money?

        • by spun ( 1352 ) <loverevolutionary&yahoo,com> on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:38PM (#61928969) Journal

          >How do you make money off of people who have no money?

          You lend them the money. That's what we've been doing for a few decades now, instead of raising pay to keep up with inflation, we just made getting loans and credit easier.

          • >How do you make money off of people who have no money?

            You lend them the money. That's what we've been doing for a few decades now, instead of raising pay to keep up with inflation, we just made getting loans and credit easier.

            That ride goes away after a while. A lot of boomer colleagues are retiring, forced or otherwise, in a mountain of debt. Refinanced that house several times, Credit card debt up the yazoo, and even those easy monthly payments are leaving roughly nothing to live on.

            I retired debt free, by not following that fake "smart money" trail. Young folks should be taking notes.

            • by spun ( 1352 )

              Some are. As always, basic personal finances are never taught in school. People raised by upper middle class or wealthier tend to get taught this pretty early.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

        Disagree actually.

        I drank coke because I thought Pepsi tastes stale...

        These days I like alternative cola drinks... that in fact taste kinda like stale coke.

        Then again I am, I'm guessing, above average in being aware of myself and how I'm influenced. You may be right about the masses.

    • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:07PM (#61928829)

      Sure it is, it is the group of people who needs new stuff.
      Kids get what the parents give them.
      Older people are in general happy with the stuff they have, You are not going to see many 40+ something getting all excited about a new phone, clothing, or jumping onto the newest gizmo.
      Young adults are a good market for Facebook who sells advertising. Because you get a group of people who are now have the following.
      1. Wanting to attract a mate: The 18-30 main thing on their mind, is getting a mate. To do this they need to prove that they are not a looser, so they will often get things to show that then can take care of themself, or have a support system which the other can see as beneficial.

      2. Their Existing stuff isn't good enough. That twin bed, beat up couch, TV that is 10 years old... While they may serve you, it isn't really like living at home, just living off the essentials. so you will want to get some new stuff now that you have a steady paycheck with a "real job"

      3. Having kids: Kids are expensive and need a lot of stuff.

      Sure the young adults may not be as wealthy as the older established people are, however they need more stuff, or at least think they need more stuff. So they will buy a lot of stuff, that older people will buy less often. That Cell Phone even for a tech guy, doesn't need to be upgraded every year, That TV doesn't need to be 4k or 8k.... If your old one breaks then you will get a new one. You can be happy with a practical car, vs a sports car....

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 )

        Sure it is, it is the group of people who needs new stuff. Kids get what the parents give them. Older people are in general happy with the stuff they have, You are not going to see many 40+ something getting all excited about a new phone, clothing, or jumping onto the newest gizmo.

        How do you deal with the fact that the older people, especially the Boomers, have destroyed the possibility of young people having any money? They have left the young destitute and penniless. It seems like Facebook might be trying to drive the young into a sort of debtors prison, and give the stock proceeds once again to the boomers.

        • That is a different argument all together. The "Kids" still need their stuff, and will get it, even if it is a good investment or not, and if they will need to go into debt to get it they will.

          As for the Facebook Silo who is just interested in getting their users to interact with the Ad's, and the Ad makers interest on getting customers. The fact that the young adults are shooting themselves in the food, or have to shoot themselves in the foot, isn't really their concern.

        • by jbengt ( 874751 )

          How do you deal with the fact that the older people, especially the Boomers, have destroyed the possibility of young people having any money?

          I deal with it by pointing out that it isn't true, not even close to true.

          • by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @03:38PM (#61929745)

            How do you deal with the fact that the older people, especially the Boomers, have destroyed the possibility of young people having any money?

            I deal with it by pointing out that it isn't true, not even close to true.

            Yeah, I should have used the sarcasm tag.

            As I've pointed out many times, all generations tend to believe all their problems are the results of their parents.

            When I entered the workforce in the 70's, we heard much of the same. "Blah blah parent's screwed everything up and they are idiots". "blah blah no point in saving for retirement", "blah blah, can't buy a house"

            Then we grew up and got to work.

            What does concern me is the number of millennials in their mid-late 30's that haven't left that blame stage.

            And a lot of this is the way they were raised. I do believe that we did sell them a bill of goods. But at some point, it becomes the old adage "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." No matter what happened to you you have to adult sometime, and the best blame can get you is a "poor lamb". I blame a lot of this on a school system that somehow managed to teach them they would start at the top, only work in areas that "made a difference", and could be anything they wanted to be.

            Then to top it off, we told young ladies that their path to having it all was graduating form college, working until they were 35 to 40, then finding a man, settling down and having children. And that they should never ever settle for anything but the perfect guy.

            And somewhere in the mix, masculinity became evil, and a male was considered worthless and unneeded.

            The terrible problem is the now not young ladies are looking for that perfect guy to settle down with at a point where they want a child or children, but have entered the precipitous decline of their fertility. A lot of friend's daughters are freezing their eggs in a desperate attempt to extend fertility after meeting that perfect guy. The huge problem is that if a male reaches his mid 30's/early 40's without settling down - he isn't likely to.

            No we don't live forever, no we don't control biology very much.

            But we do control ourselves. There are Millenial and GenX millionaires. There are millennial and GenX homeowners. Working and saving and being successful.

      • by waveclaw ( 43274 )

        The young adults focused on living, instead of just continuing, need a higher signal-to-noise ratio than Facebook's sea of old people, cranks and commercials.

        One thing that made Facebook win verses the many other social networks started at the same time was signal. They were exclusive. At first is was just for college people. Not random people. Not the average joe. The educated (or attempting to be so) and the cool kids you should look up to. The idiot selling snake oil or the cult pretending to be a

    • Says the #2 producer of internet caused mental illness (TikTok has taken #1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozWjFqTeSl8 [youtube.com] Is How social media *causes* mental illness.

      • Says the #2 producer of internet caused mental illness (TikTok has taken #1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozWjFqTeSl8 [youtube.com] Is How social media *causes* mental illness.

        Watch Replicant Phish and Taylor the Fiend. You might not agree with their viewpoint, but they show a lot of mentally questionable tiktoks. That part is not debatable.

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      Facebook, and all the earlybsocial media companies, focused on teens because they were the ones exploring the technology, they were the ones narcissistic enough to take pictures of themselves all the time, they were the ones who wanted to seem popular, and had some expendable income. The death of early social media, and what Facebook largely avoided, is old people taking over. MySpace did not

      The issue is that as a group young adult, not teens or parents, tend to much more and explicate sex oriented. Fa

  • So.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by The Faywood Assassin ( 542375 ) <benyjr@@@yahoo...ca> on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @11:54AM (#61928747) Homepage

    It's going to format all of it's servers and turn off the lights?

    Can't think of any better service for young people by Facebook that to cease to exist.

    • by Anonymous Coward
      well Millennials are notorious for killing off established companies, so why not Facebook.
      but let's wait until Facebook has finished killing off the Boomers with covid disinformation first.
      unfortunately it's a race as to whether Facebook will kill off the Boomers or Democracy first. eh, you can't have everything.
    • Can't think of any better service for young people by Facebook that to cease to exist.

      Facebook wants to serve young adults as McDonald's serves hamburgers.

      Facebook: Billions and Billions Young Adults Served!

      "Would you like some fries with your Young Adult?"

      Young Adult Happy Meal, indeed.

  • Translation (Score:5, Insightful)

    by memory_register ( 6248354 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @11:54AM (#61928749)
    We know that we are only a few years away from losing our dominance, especially if we canâ(TM)t get the kids hooked now.
    • Re:Translation (Score:5, Interesting)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:11PM (#61928847)

      Email is for old people.
      Texting is for old people.
      Facebook is for old people. ...

      Kids get onto technology, where their parents don't want to tread, so they will not shock them with the fact that they want to have sex.
      Once their parents get onto that platform, or they grow up and become parents. Kids will gravitate to a different source.
      What facebooks needs to do to attract Young Adults is to kick off everyone over 30. And features that will be sure that you block Mom and Dad from your content.

      • Email is for old people. Texting is for old people. Facebook is for old people. ...

        Kids get onto technology, where their parents don't want to tread, so they will not shock them with the fact that they want to have sex. Once their parents get onto that platform, or they grow up and become parents. Kids will gravitate to a different source. What facebooks needs to do to attract Young Adults is to kick off everyone over 30. And features that will be sure that you block Mom and Dad from your content.

        You bring up some good points, although FB was never technology - just as driving a car does not make you a mechanic.

        But the concept of the young is to have their own place. New and fresh, as if they have discovered something new. It's kind of like how every generation believes they were the ones who invented sex.

        Facebook is old and stale for them, and I have no idea how FB would ever attract young people to it. My forced account on it shows me that the average age is probably in the late 50's early

        • by jbengt ( 874751 )

          It's kind of like how every generation believes they were the ones who invented sex.

          If the older generations weren't always so intent on hiding sex from the youngsters, that might not have been true.

          • If the older generations weren't always so intent on hiding sex from the youngsters, that might not have been true.

            Not hiding sex from the youngsters is what gets your name on a list and a cellmate named Bubba.

  • North star? (Score:5, Funny)

    by dlleigh ( 313922 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @11:54AM (#61928753)

    Because of axial precession, does this mean that Facebook will drag the moral compass of its users away from truth, too slowly for them to notice that it's happening?

    Asking for scientific reasons...

  • by BeerFartMoron ( 624900 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @11:55AM (#61928757)
    It's a COOKBOOK!
  • LOL (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zaax ( 637433 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @11:57AM (#61928773)
    The last thing youngsters do is what their parents do. They are on other things like Tik Tok, Telegraph and Discord
    • Read the summary, they aren't going after youngsters. They are going after young adults.

      • So the 55-65 age range?

      • Read the summary, they aren't going after youngsters. They are going after young adults.

        A lot of "young adults" are on those other platforms. And they are using their waning cool and fresh years to pretend they are still all that.

        • If you're not cool in your old age, it's your own fault.

          • If you're not cool in your old age, it's your own fault.

            Of course, one needs to define "cool".

          • Exactly. I'm in my 50s, have a cool pony tail, wear hiphop t-shirts and leather trousers. When I'm out raving it's pretty clear the kids think I'm still cool - they're always smiling and pointing at me.

      • by jbengt ( 874751 )

        . . . they aren't going after youngsters. They are going after young adults.

        Sorry, but my youngest kid is 30. Any young adult is a youngster to me.

    • Which is probably part of why they are prepping for a name change. Try and scrape some of that stigma off their shoe.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    Facebook dropped out of youth usage a long time ago. The current crop of teens see Facebook as something only their parents use. The kids are using tiktok a lot, but that will die soon, and they'll be off to something else. Facebook will never again be useful to young adults like it was at its inception (as a slightly better classmates.com).
    • by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      Facebook the platform, yes. Facebook the owner of many platforms, no. Young adults, especially women are on instagram en masse. And instagram is a facebook property.

      And article does mention significant chunk of that refocusing being directed at changing instagram, not facebook.

  • by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:01PM (#61928799)

    I believe the correct response to that is 'ok boomer'.

    • I believe the correct response to that is 'ok boomer'.

      Hasn't that died yet? Boomers tend not to care too much about that insult.

      • by vux984 ( 928602 )

        "Hasn't that died yet?"

        Pretty much illustrating just how doomed it is to 'refocus' anything full of your mothers, grandmothers and aunts at teens.

        It will invariably come off as out of touch or trying too hard.

        "Boomers tend not to care too much about that insult."

        Nobody likes being completely dismissed as irrelevant.

        • "Hasn't that died yet?"

          Pretty much illustrating just how doomed it is to 'refocus' anything full of your mothers, grandmothers and aunts at teens.

          It will invariably come off as out of touch or trying too hard.

          "Boomers tend not to care too much about that insult."

          Nobody likes being completely dismissed as irrelevant.

          Well, Despite the narrative, Boomers have been through more than some might think. Polio, Vietnam, amped up threat of death from nukes.

          So if someone wants to think that "Okay Boomer" somehow harms us, it's more projection of what hurts them, because in today's world - words do hurt.

          Meanwhile doesn't matter much to me.

  • by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:10PM (#61928841)
    why anyone has a Facebook account. When I watch my wife it seems more like an addiction/job than something enjoyable.
    Facebook has a real problem though. There is no downside to not using Facebook and the upside just keeps getting bigger.

    I joke with friends that I create tech, but don't have much use for any of it.
    • I joke with friends that I create tech, but don't have much use for any of i

      Siimilar. I support all kinds of tech and abhor it in my private life (see my posts about my phone). Tech, in general, doesn't do what it should and generally gets in the way of doing something.

      If someone could create software which does only what the user tells it to do and nothing else, no suggestions, no hints, no corrections, no alterations, no anything else, I would consider purchasing it. Linux is reasonably close,
    • by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:24PM (#61928905) Journal

      Because many other people have a Facebook account.

      When I watch my wife it seems more like an addiction/job than something enjoyable.

      Human connection with others is the ultimate addiction.

    • Some people seem addicted and do nothing but post. But mostly it just does what it claims to do - keep track of old friends and see what they're up to. What else manages to do that out there? Not instagram, not twitter, not youtube/tiktok/whatever, and there's no google+ anymore and only techies really used that, etc.

    • why anyone has a Facebook account. When I watch my wife it seems more like an addiction/job than something enjoyable.

      Ain't that the truth! What's worse, there seems to be a depressive aspect, as well as their algorithms trend to radicalize people.

  • by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @12:20PM (#61928891)
    Then real change can happen.
  • What you've got is meemaw and peepaw.

  • Facebook is the default tool for many international interactions. They are solid with 40+ and have a population connected with wealth which is why they have money. Mega-corps aren't agile, they can't shift like small companies. Because of this the smart choice for a mega-corp is to just buy huge stakes in each popular service for each generation. Do what Large Corporations have done for generations. Let the small companies innovate and then buy them out. The assumption that you can repeat your luck b
  • Presumably in a light Béarnaise sauce.

  • ...and where it will be as they grow older. The better for Facebook's algorithms to exploit.
  • by Aethedor ( 973725 ) on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @01:04PM (#61929091)
    Fuck you, Facebook!! I will keep the young adults that are children far away from your poisonous platform. Fuck you, Mark!
  • 1) Say you'll do something
    2) Do what you said with minimal effort (which usually means doing nothing)
    3) Keep your business model of user engagement
    4) Profit

    What they should say is we will change facebook in any way we can even if it means losing some user engagement, but they'll never do that because it's all about the money.

  • And Al Capone wants to serve alcoholics to make their lives better.
  • and still is. Hopefully Gen Z will reject Facebook outright no matter what they try; the quicker it ends up going full MySpace the better.
  • The question is, serving young adults to who?
    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      serving young adults to who?

      Zuckerberg. Same as his original Harvard web site.

  • Of course Facebook will serve young adults. They'll serve anyone of any age - to advertisers and anyone else who pays. It's just what they do. What they aren't acknowledging is just how they cook their users before serving them.

  • Will Zuck start wearing his baseball cap on backwards?

    "Here's our new site mascot - meet Poochie! Isn't he cool, kids?"

  • Young adults are not gonna use your site if you keep caving to the right on social-issue dick-measuring contests. They did not like Jan 6th, they do not like it when Ted Cruz gets false videos reinstated on the platform by public bitching, some of them are Non-Binary, etc. You're gonna have to completely change the way you moderate this stuff or you're not gonna get young adult eyeballs.

    Neither Ted Cruz, nor Donald Trump, nor your working class 50+ current user-base are going to like that. And they're going

  • Wait, was that not the title of a cookbook? How is Facebooks' latest plan any different?

  • by MysteriousPreacher ( 702266 ) on Wednesday October 27, 2021 @01:25AM (#61930887) Journal

    All Mark asks if you is that you let him look at your children for a bit. He don't touch them, just follow them around and watch them.

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