10 things wrong with Meta; including decreasing numbers, morale, and happiness

Meta is at an inflection point that could decide the company’s fate, but so far into the transition, it’s only been downhill for the struggling social media (metaverse?) company:

• Its stock price is down 52% in 2022.
• Quarterly sales declined for the first time.
• Facebook users fell for the first time.

Here are 10 things wrong with Meta:

1/ A slowing ad market is hurting Meta’s primary revenue source along with growing competition from TikTok.

2/ Priority changes and budget cuts are impacting employee morale. Meta’s workforce feels anxious and resentful per current and former employees (WP).

3/ Mark Zuckerberg has voting control over Meta — so you can’t fire him and you can’t go against his vision.

4/ Customers aren’t happy with the direction of Instagram. A focus on video and priority on content recommendations instead of follower content angers users.

5/ Apple’s iOS privacy changes continue to impact Meta. In February, Meta said the changes would lower its 2022 sales by $10B (8.5% of 2022 sales).

6/ Billions are being invested into the metaverse — a heavily criticized bet that won’t pay off for many years, if at all. Meta lost $2.8B in its VR division in the second quarter.

7/ It’s getting difficult to acquire companies. The FTC is trying to block Meta’s acquisition of VR company Within — worried they’ll own the entire metaverse.

8/ Meta is a hotbed for scandals. Meta is constantly running into data privacy and content moderation issues, and Zuckerberg is also being sued for its Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.

9/ Meta’s number two exec Sheryl Sandberg left in June. She greatly impacted the company’s growth since joining in 2008.

10/ Younger demographics are losing interest in Facebook. FB used to be 42% of teens’ favorite social network — now down to 2%.