Ask HN: Has Facebook started to plateau?
To me, that does seem to be the case based on headlines I see here and on reddit. This may just be the media fanning flames to create a story but maybe the anti-Facebook sentiment has reached a tipping point.
Now they seem to be in retreat and refocusing on their core product strategy of giving people a way to stay in touch with their real-life friends. In a way, that is a good thing, but the problem is the shine has worn off and people are wary of the company's problematic relationship with user privacy and "fake news". It doesn't feel safe, friendly, and positive anymore like it did 10 years ago.
So the question becomes: can Facebook return to a past era of upbeat brand perception and core product focus while still making lots of money (which requires keeping advertisers very happy)? Personally, I don't think so. FB is certainly not going anywhere and will likely do well financially for some time to come, but its golden age has passed.
Companies are starting to slowly figure out that online ads have almost zero value. Facebook is surviving by buying the hottest properties around, and they will continue to do so. They are diversified. I give it 5 years before they pull a google and change the name.
But as long as advertisers can keep moving the goal-posts, there will be marketing teams who think they need to pay money for those ads. The problem with previous social media companies was that they got complacent. Facebook isn't. They are actively acquiring every next big social media company they can. Facebook as a website is a worthless graveyard. Other properties will make money while it and its users decline and die.