Meta is now using AI-generated profiles to drive up “engagement” on Facebook and Instagram.
Now why would they do this?
Well, for one thing, organic engagement on both those platforms is dead—and it’s been dead for awhile. And now they’re stuck in a loop where influencers aren’t talking to people—they’re talking to algorithms.
So what about the 98% of users who aren’t influencers? Well, most of their content gets stuck in a void with no engagement. And this drives down satisfaction. Why post your breakfast to Instagram if no one sees it?
Therefore, Meta needs to build the illusion of engagement to satiate that need for connection. And Zuckerberg assumes most people will be satisfied with bot interaction.
But what I suspect is that this will lead to a diminishment of trust on those platforms.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/meta-ai-users-facebook-instagram-1235221430/
@atomicpoet not a bad theory. I would add that it will transform advertising and product placement by replacing human influencers and ads with likable fictional characters that focus on you.
@j12t As a short-term bet, that’s not bad. But long-term, that eats away at customer satisfaction and is a detriment to the overall health of the platform.
If you don’t serve the basic human need of providing connection, then your social media platform fails.
@atomicpoet @j12t I don't even think it will work short-term. People are already bouncing because what they came for, the social connections, is nothing but an afterthought at this point - the only ones trying to make it work are influencers & companies who still believe in SoMe marketing. We're probably months from FB being just bots talking to other bots & Meta pretending that's still worth spending your advertising budget on.
@jwcph @atomicpoet @j12t IOW Facebook turning into