The ongoing Meta monopoly trial has sparked a crucial question: the importance of using social media to connect with friends and family today. In the early days, Facebook’s primary use case was connecting users with their loved ones, achieving 1 billion users without being acquired by another company.
However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims that Meta took advantage of Facebook’s popularity, buying out rivals and cornering the market on personal social networks. The only notable competitors to Meta platforms are Snapchat and MeWe, a privacy-focused alternative to Facebook.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified that the FTC’s market definition is outdated, as people are sharing less with friends, especially on Facebook. He stated that the amount of new friends added has also declined. Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer of Meta, corroborated this, saying that friend and family sharing decreased over time and would pose significant revenue issues if targeted.
The trial highlights a shift in how people use social media, with Zuckerberg arguing that the FTC’s approach is no longer relevant in today’s market.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/at-monopoly-trial-zuckerberg-redefined-social-media-as-texting-with-friends