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> “I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now..” Zuckerberg said. Zuck is blaming the economy, but Meta's real problem is that Apple tig

> “I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now..” Zuckerberg said. Zuck is blaming the economy, but Meta's real problem is that Apple tightened iOS privacy. Meta had built a business on tracking people, and when iOS tightened privacy, Meta could not target ads as effectively as before.

m00x 4y ago
It's definitely a problem, but the economic downturn is a lot more significant. Meta allegedly got around Apple's privacy rules. I used to work in user tracking, and it's very easy to track people down to near-unique from several metrics.
nostromo 4y ago
Apple tightening privacy while TikTok is eating their lunch... Not to mention the Metaverse is/was a giant distraction.
- kweingar 4y ago
  Not very relevant, but an observation: I've noticed that users on HN like to use the phrase "eating their lunch" to describe the dynamic between TikTok and Facebook. It would be interesting to search HN comments from the past 12 months for "eating their lunch" and analyze what proportion of them refer to TikTok.
  - denkmoon 4y ago
    Why is that remotely notable? It's hardly an uncommon phrase.
    - kweingar 4y ago
      It’s not an uncommon phrase, but it seems like people disproportionately use it in describing this particular situation.
- wollsmoth 4y ago
  Metaverse is an interesting idea, but they're too quick to hail it as the feature of the company imo. It just looks like an expensive, boring, video game right now.
  - defterGoose 4y ago
    | Metaverse is an interesting idea... It's really not though, nor is it an original one. There are real people with real problems in the world and we've seen over and over that increasingly virtualizing our interactions, with a few exceptions, is a great way of kicking those problems down the road.
    - wollsmoth 4y ago
      An idea can be interesting and still be a huge waste of time. I don't think it'll end well for Meta. It'll be super interesting to see how it plays out. I think we might end up with some sweet VR tech, I just don't think it's going to give FB the kind of business they think it will.
  - cetahfh14615 4y ago
    > Metaverse is an interesting idea It just seems like a mix of xbox kinect and roblox maybe zuck is just having a midlife crisis, who knows
    - wollsmoth 4y ago
      I think he's deluding himself a little. I think VR is going to be a niche product for a long, long time. AR, if cool enough, could maybe catch on. But it needs to be as easy as putting on shades.
dc-programmer 4y ago
Stages of grief. First he blamed employees, now the economy..
- 1270018080 4y ago
  Cancel culture is the only scapegoat left
- SantalBlush 4y ago
  CEOs are collectively hammering these talking points about the economy, pretending that it's 2008 all over again. They want their workers scared. The thing is, this isn't 2008, not by a long shot. They can keep complaining, but the jobs numbers speak for themselves.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    If you think the world’s economy is in good shape, I have an investment to sell you.
    - SantalBlush 4y ago
      You're responding to something I never discussed.
      - hnfong 4y ago
        How about "If you think this isn't 2008 by a long shot, I have an investment to sell you." ? Interested now?
threatofrain 4y ago
The economy is an issue, but the "fault" is not in the economy or the CEO in that there is no fault. A business is not responsible for retaining employees even if the economy is strong. If we prescriptively believe that people ought have money to maintain a basic standard of living then we should have the government provide this service using public money and not private ad-funded money. It is modern corporate style to have CEO's shed tears (sometimes literally) to show that their cold calculations actually have love behind them, but this is all just PR. We should recognize Mark's statement for what it is — standard corporate PR. And we should offer such statements as much respect as standard corporate verbiage deserves and not get into the substance of the statements as there typically is none.
ilamont 4y ago
Not the only problem. Zuck's betting the farm on VR, which is sucking up resources and attention. Even if it reaches critical adoption, how many years before it starts generating true profit?
- sverhagen 4y ago
  If he ends up being right, we'll all praise him as a great visionary. They have the means for what it would take. But since I'm not a great visionary, I'll just go on the record with: no chance, there's no real addressable market there...
otikik 4y ago
And their feed is increasingly worse. We might be the product, but this product can walk away.
- rightbyte 4y ago
  That was an interesting twist to the barn methaphor actually.
laweijfmvo 4y ago
What he meant was "I had hoped _our_stock_price_ would have more clearly stabilized by now..." They over-hired low[er] quality employees (by his own admission) when the stock exploded in 2020. Now they'll do anything to avoid official layoffs to save face.

m00x 4y ago

It's definitely a problem, but the economic downturn is a lot more significant. Meta allegedly got around Apple's privacy rules. I used to work in user tracking, and it's very easy to track people down to near-unique from several metrics.

nostromo 4y ago

Apple tightening privacy while TikTok is eating their lunch... Not to mention the Metaverse is/was a giant distraction.

kweingar 4y ago
Not very relevant, but an observation: I've noticed that users on HN like to use the phrase "eating their lunch" to describe the dynamic between TikTok and Facebook. It would be interesting to search HN comments from the past 12 months for "eating their lunch" and analyze what proportion of them refer to TikTok.
- denkmoon 4y ago
  Why is that remotely notable? It's hardly an uncommon phrase.
  - kweingar 4y ago
    It’s not an uncommon phrase, but it seems like people disproportionately use it in describing this particular situation.
wollsmoth 4y ago
Metaverse is an interesting idea, but they're too quick to hail it as the feature of the company imo. It just looks like an expensive, boring, video game right now.
- defterGoose 4y ago
  | Metaverse is an interesting idea... It's really not though, nor is it an original one. There are real people with real problems in the world and we've seen over and over that increasingly virtualizing our interactions, with a few exceptions, is a great way of kicking those problems down the road.
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    An idea can be interesting and still be a huge waste of time. I don't think it'll end well for Meta. It'll be super interesting to see how it plays out. I think we might end up with some sweet VR tech, I just don't think it's going to give FB the kind of business they think it will.
- cetahfh14615 4y ago
  > Metaverse is an interesting idea It just seems like a mix of xbox kinect and roblox maybe zuck is just having a midlife crisis, who knows
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    I think he's deluding himself a little. I think VR is going to be a niche product for a long, long time. AR, if cool enough, could maybe catch on. But it needs to be as easy as putting on shades.

dc-programmer 4y ago

Stages of grief. First he blamed employees, now the economy..

1270018080 4y ago
Cancel culture is the only scapegoat left
SantalBlush 4y ago
CEOs are collectively hammering these talking points about the economy, pretending that it's 2008 all over again. They want their workers scared. The thing is, this isn't 2008, not by a long shot. They can keep complaining, but the jobs numbers speak for themselves.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  If you think the world’s economy is in good shape, I have an investment to sell you.
  - SantalBlush 4y ago
    You're responding to something I never discussed.
    - hnfong 4y ago
      How about "If you think this isn't 2008 by a long shot, I have an investment to sell you." ? Interested now?

threatofrain 4y ago

The economy is an issue, but the "fault" is not in the economy or the CEO in that there is no fault. A business is not responsible for retaining employees even if the economy is strong. If we prescriptively believe that people ought have money to maintain a basic standard of living then we should have the government provide this service using public money and not private ad-funded money. It is modern corporate style to have CEO's shed tears (sometimes literally) to show that their cold calculations actually have love behind them, but this is all just PR. We should recognize Mark's statement for what it is — standard corporate PR. And we should offer such statements as much respect as standard corporate verbiage deserves and not get into the substance of the statements as there typically is none.

ilamont 4y ago

Not the only problem. Zuck's betting the farm on VR, which is sucking up resources and attention. Even if it reaches critical adoption, how many years before it starts generating true profit?

sverhagen 4y ago
If he ends up being right, we'll all praise him as a great visionary. They have the means for what it would take. But since I'm not a great visionary, I'll just go on the record with: no chance, there's no real addressable market there...

otikik 4y ago

And their feed is increasingly worse. We might be the product, but this product can walk away.

rightbyte 4y ago
That was an interesting twist to the barn methaphor actually.

laweijfmvo 4y ago

What he meant was "I had hoped _our_stock_price_ would have more clearly stabilized by now..." They over-hired low[er] quality employees (by his own admission) when the stock exploded in 2020. Now they'll do anything to avoid official layoffs to save face.