What’s Going On Here?Facebook announced mixed earnings late on Monday, so the social media giant would really appreciate it if you could just give it a little look-see into every aspect of your life. What Does This Mean?Facebook’s monthly active users rose by just 6% compared to the same time last year, bringing the total to 2.9 billion. That’s not ideal given that the company makes most of its money from selling its users’ attention – nor were Apple’s recent privacy changes, which are making it tricky for advertisers to target the right customers. That might be why Facebook’s revenue climbed by a weaker-than-expected 35%, and why its outlook for this quarter came in below forecasts too.
Still, Facebook’s shares did climb 3%, and there could be a couple of reasons why. For one thing, the impact of Apple’s changes wasn’t exactly news to investors: the writing was on the wall from Snapchat’s disappointing update last week. And for another, Facebook promised to buy $50 billion more of its own shares, which will reduce the number available and push up the value of those left over. Why Should I Care?For markets: Facebook’s problems are just getting started.
Facebook’s got more worries than iOS: the US is toying with the idea of a new agency dedicated to overseeing Big Tech, and regulators are due to reassess whether its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp should ever have gone ahead. No surprise, then, that Facebook’s shares had underperformed the wider market by 15% in the three months before the results.
The bigger picture: Money Toks.
Recent leaks from within Facebook revealed that the number of under 30s using the platform in America is dropping, and that Instagram’s growth among younger users looks like it’s peaked. That’s a big deal: advertisers will ditch the platform in a heartbeat if they think there’s a cooler kid on the block. And there definitely is: the report showed TikTok users are spending twice as much time on the Gen Z favorite as they are on Facebook. | 
