Facebook Is Dead (It Just Doesn’t Know It Yet)

You could say that social media isn’t exactly dying, but bifurcating. Apps like Twitter—which don’t really offer the ability to split status updates and broadcast capacities or switch to short-form video posting—and Facebook—which are essentially so rotted out by network decay—are not fertile ground for this kind of consumption shift.

But human individuality would not die. Instead it is centralized social media that is dying. Social media network effects are strong, but not infinitely strong. A recent survey found that  only a third of U.S. teens use Facebook at all , down from over 70% just half a decade ago. And even before Musk’s takeover, the fraction of teens on Twitt

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Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all started life as revolutionary networks that brought existing real-world relationships online. Today, they are aging utilities, powering an outdated version of the social internet.

Facebook owns the social graph. Whether you’re a Boomer or GenXer using Facebook, a Millenial using Instagram & Messenger, or a Non-American using WhatsApp… the fact is, if you’re connecting with your everyday-life friends online, you’re relying on Facebook in some capacity.

Facebook is trying to do everything, but in the process, it risks becoming nothing.