The signal fell off a cliff: when I used it 10 years ago in uni, it was actually useful (and the algorithm did a better job of showing things you wanted to see/there were less ads of all types); now it's mostly a proxy for emails about parties and spotify/hulu/tinder login.
I think Facebook has failed to notice the precipitous drop, because they can only A/B test small changes, and none of the thousand cuts seemed like much damage.
Now they lack the magic to get new users hooked, are transparently a psychologically-manipulative ad-network, and are wondering why engagement is dropping or young users are finding new platforms.
I call it stats blindness: you optimize for a proxy, and end up walking slowly downhill.
I think Facebook has failed to notice the precipitous drop, because they can only A/B test small changes, and none of the thousand cuts seemed like much damage.
Now they lack the magic to get new users hooked, are transparently a psychologically-manipulative ad-network, and are wondering why engagement is dropping or young users are finding new platforms.
I call it stats blindness: you optimize for a proxy, and end up walking slowly downhill.