Internal Meta documents released on May 6, as of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust investigation reveal growing concerns about Facebook’s declining popularity among younger users, with some Facebook documents showing data of the struggling 20-year-old platform.
The leaked Meta and Facebook documents depict a platform now described as the “grandparent” of social media by its own employees, unable to replicate its early dominance as Gen-Z users are now flocking to video-centric applications, such as ByteDance-owned TikTok.
Meta’s analysis in the leaked Facebook documents identified shifting trends toward influencer content on newer social media platforms as the leading hurdle for this struggle. Due to video and influencer-based interaction, Facebook’s legacy engagement strategies became less relevant, failing to attract younger demographics that view what was once the godfather of social networking as an irrelevant platform.
Meta leaked documents dubbed Facebook obsolete, without openly saying it. Meta’s OG social networking platform has been around since 2004, and the Facebook engagement tricks that worked back then are not applicable to the young users.
According to a survey by the Pew Research Center in 2023 called “Teens, social media and Technology 2023”, the number of American teens on Facebook dropped from 71% in 2014–15 to just 33% in 2023. In 2021, there were also leaked internal documents, referred to as the “Facebook Papers,” which reported that Facebook knew it was losing favor among the young and struggled to retain them.
Story Behind Facebook Leaked Documents
It began with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ruthless push to “raise the bar on performance,” which led to the crashing down in February of this year, with the cold severance of about 3,600 employees – 5% of Meta’s workforce were gone in a single stroke.
The Facebook documents revealed official memos mentioning underperformance as a reason, leading to former employees questioning what standards were being applied, and whose metrics decided their obsolescence?
Some employees reported receiving positive performance reviews just months before being laid off. Others were on medical or parental leave or had not yet received a formal evaluation. Some questioned whether personal disagreements with managers were a contributing factor.
It’s worth noting that severance packages were sent to those affected at the end of April.
Anonymous accounts, verified by Business Insider, show the Facebook document leak about workers and their concerns about how being labeled as a “low performer” might damage their future careers.
A Meta spokesperson addressed the company’s earlier stance, telling Business Insider, “Let me be clear, these were performance-based terminations. Prior ratings were not downgraded. Simply because someone had a history of meeting or exceeding expectations does not mean they continue to consistently meet the bar.”
In Meta’s fourth quarter (Q4) earnings call, Zuckerberg pledged 2025 would be the “year of efficiency,” as the layoffs followed the company’s $40 billion Reality Labs losses for 2022-2024.
The spokesperson emphasized that Meta operates under a “goal-based culture of high performance,” and one former employee said that the layoffs were “just part of Mark’s mandate.”
Has Zuckerberg Lost His FB Charm?
Mark Zuckerberg is slowly losing his grip on Facebook, the social network that once represented a generation of online communication and much of that decline can be recognized in his own decisions over the years. Known for his strong-minded focus on growth and performance, Zuckerberg has consistently prioritized growth, algorithms, and corporate advantage over user experience and adaptability.
The Meta layoffs, justified under the mask of “raising the bar on performance,” and the Facebook leaked metrics during the FTC investigation, draw a picture of a social company on the back foot struggling to be relevant to younger generations, overlooking social engagements’ basic shifts that now define TikTok.
Zuck’s dedication to a top-down performance culture has withdrawn not only his workforce but also the user base that made Facebook documentation crucial to begin with. In attempting to innovate Meta, Zuckerberg may have accidentally heightened Facebook’s fall from this generation.
Facebook documents and has documented many of our memories, but will we document its demise?
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