You’ve probably heard the news: Meta is getting rid of its fact-checkers in favour of a Twitter-style community moderation approach.
Mark Zuckerberg’s explanation for this decision combined free-speech sentiment with some eye-opening numbers. As you’ve likely already guessed, we’re going to steer clear of the former and focus firmly on the latter.
“In December 2024, we removed millions of pieces of content every day”, he explained.
“While these actions account for less than 1% of content produced every day, we think one to two out of every 10 of these actions may have been mistakes.”
But the real motivation for this move might be more than just mistaken content removal. Based on Meta’s estimated spend on content moderation (close to $5bn a year, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) and Meta’s current P/E ratio (29.06), this change could add $145.3bn to its enterprise value.
As a 13.5% shareholder, Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth increases by $19.61bn based on these numbers. Not a bad day’s work.
Now that the dust has settled on the news, brands that are active on Meta’s platforms are left to figure out how to navigate these choppier waters.
1) The internet never forgets. Whilst Meta’s algorithm changes might give you a short-term reward for sharing more opinionated content, the long-term might not be so kind. Be careful about your organisation’s executives or clients using political opinions to chase engagement.
2) These changes will primarily impact US-based audiences. Though the shockwaves will probably be felt this side of the pond, it’s the businesses working with US audiences that will be most impacted.
3) If you do want to take a stance on your socials, make sure it aligns with the fundamentals of your brand. Have a compelling reason, aligned to your core business, to share your views. If you’re an EV manufacturer, there’s probably a good reason to weigh in on the government’s emissions target. But as the philosopher Chris Rock so eloquently put it, “I don’t need your yoga pants’ politics”.
The cold hard numbers show that this initiative will benefit Facebook's shareholders in the short-term.
It is also the case that other changes announced at Meta, such as the reported "termination of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" programmes, will not. Studies, such as this from the LSE, have consistently shown that "DEI is associated with higher long-term market performance, with positive impacts larger for growth compared to steady state firms".
At Hard Numbers, whatever the political weather, we firmly believe in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and will continue to invest in initiatives to promote it. It might not net us $19.61bn, but some things are more important than money.
