Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed in court testimony that he contemplated a dramatic reset of Facebook's social connections in 2022, considering the deletion of all users' friend lists to have them start fresh. This startling admission came during his testimony in an ongoing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust case against Meta.
During Monday's hearing, Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook has moved away from its original mission of connecting friends and family. "The 'friend' part has gone down quite a bit," he stated, noting that the platform has evolved into "more of a broad discovery and entertainment space."
The revelation emerged through an internal email presented by the government, where Zuckerberg proposed what he termed a "potentially crazy idea" to "wipe everyone's graphs" - referring to users' friend connections. This radical suggestion came as Facebook grappled with its aging reputation and competition from platforms like TikTok.
Tom Alison, Facebook's head, expressed reservations about the proposal, questioning its viability given the importance of friend connections to Instagram's ecosystem. The plan was ultimately abandoned.
The testimony was part of the FTC's case alleging Meta created a monopoly through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The agency aims to break up Meta by forcing it to spin off one of these platforms, pointing to its massive user base of 3.3 billion as evidence of limited market competition.
In response to users' nostalgia for Facebook's original focus on personal connections, the company recently announced plans to introduce several "OG" Facebook features throughout the year, including a new Friends tab that will showcase friends' posts, stories, reels, and birthdays.
The shift in Facebook's content strategy has resulted in feeds dominated by sponsored content, group posts, and algorithmic recommendations, moving away from its original emphasis on personal connections and updates from friends and family.