As Meta prepares for a 0.4% drop in revenue to about US$29 billion, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hinted at the need to accelerate the pace of focus on two immediate bets, including pumping up short-video offerings to compete with TikTok and rebuilding its ad system following Apple’s new privacy policy.
While the initiatives will take time, Zuckerberg explained that there is an urgent need to speed up the process.
He told employees during a call last month that Reels, an imitation of TikTok’s look and algorithmically driven recommendations of viral short videos, represented a “huge opportunity” for Meta. However, he explained that the format was “still only around 15% of the size of TikTok.”
“I think realistically we’re looking at a year and a half, maybe even longer, before we’ll really have a line of sight to having a strong leadership position. Our job is basically to bring in as much of the business that might be three years out into two years out, or one and a half years, while also pushing on things like expenses and cost growth,” Zuckerberg said.
The changes to Instagram outlook in an attempt to generate more income has attracted sharp criticism from the highest-rated users.
On Monday, two of Instagram’s biggest users, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, both shared a meme in which they implored the company to “make Instagram Instagram again.”
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
