Last week, Facebook released the news that for the first time ever, they have lost users. Maybe people are finally catching on to the many, many reports that state Facebook is making people unhappier and could lead to depression. Or, some users, like Jim Carrey, are done with the platform after learning of Facebook’s alleged profits from Russian disinformation pages.
This has led to Carrey dumping his Facebook stock and asking people to boycott the service.
https://twitter.com/JimCarrey/status/960953156262744065
Carrey’s publicist reached out to us to give a quote by Carrey regarding his call for a boycott:
“For a long time, America enjoyed a geographical advantage in the world with oceans on both sides to protect it. Now, social media has created cyber-bridges over which those who do not have our best interest in mind can cross and we are allowing it. No wall is going to protect us from that. We must encourage more oversight by the owners of these social media platforms. This easy access has to be more responsibly handled. What we need now are activist investors to send a message that responsible oversight is needed. What the world needs now is capitalism with a conscience.”
Meanwhile, among the declining accounts on the monolithic social media platform, active users are spending less time on Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t seem to care. Mostly because users logging in daily is up 14 percent. But, according to the Facebook report, users are spending 50 million fewer hours per day on Facebook, and it’s a trend that’s been consistent over the last three months. That works out to a five percent drop.
This has led to Zuckerberg changing the algorithm once again to allow users to see more posts and pictures from their friends, and less news from media outlets and brands. Whether that’s a reaction to the revelation made during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Facebook said at least 500 “inauthentic accounts” purchased over $100,000 in ads leading up the election isn’t clear.