Facebook Announces Retirement of 'Instant Articles': Latest Step in App Overhaul
Facebook continues to move away from news content, preferring entertainment videos (a la TikTok), with the announcement that it will be will withdraw its Instant Articles offer in April of next year.
Originally launched in 2015, Instant Articles was designed to give publishers a more engaging and fast-loading way to feature their articles on Facebook, helping maximize reader engagement within the app. In the years since, Meta has also looked to add more referral links and subscription tools as part of its ongoing effort to better ingratiate itself with publishers and help them use Facebook as a complementary platform to their main sites.
But now, building relationships with publishers seems to be less of a priority.
As reported by AxiosMeta’s final support for Instant Articles, as it works to better align with user preferences, who increasingly view video as their most engaging content format.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently noted that vvideo viewing accounts for 50% of all time spent on Facebook, while Reels is the fastest growing content format on both Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg has also pointed out that Facebook users ‘they don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience in our services’.
As such, Meta is working to push more entertaining video content into user feeds, which are displayed based on AI-based recommendations, not who you follow or are connected to. Zuckerberg sees this as the future of facebookand that change is already being reflected in the user experience.
ace for Goal:
“Currently, less than 3% of what people around the world see in the Facebook Feed are posts with links to news articles. And as we said earlier this year, as a business it doesn’t make sense to over-invest in areas that not align with user preferences.”
Whether you like it or not, that change makes sense.
TikTok has basically changed perspectives on what social media can, and maybe should be, in its next phase, with a greater focus on entertainment, rather than allowing people to share their opinions on every news and topic thrown at them. Present.
Social platforms have an endless treasure trove of great and entertaining content, posted by users all over the world, and while Facebook was founded on the concept of connecting you with your immediate friends and family, that too is restrictive, as you may be missing out. missing out on the best updates posted by people you’ll never be connected with on the app.
TikTok changed this by focusing on public posting and amplifying the best updates, from anyone, as much as possible to maximize engagement. That then ensures users aren’t forced to read up on, say, their uncle’s political beliefs, which can be divisive, while also keeping users entertained with a constant stream of the best highlights, relative to your interests and based on overall engagement in the app, not just what’s going on within your existing social circles.
Given the aforementioned shifts toward video and away from political posts, the change in direction makes sense, and even Zuck himself has acknowledged that he missed the potential for this behavioral development.
The bottom line is that Meta is now moving away from what had been its bread and butter, in posts from friends and family, and news articles from publishers, in favor of entertaining videos.
The demise of Instant Articles is just the latest move in this change – Meta also has:
All of this, Meta says, is in keeping with usage trends, which have seen most exchanges between friends shift to direct messages and messages, rather than people posting updates to the main feed.
But really, it all comes from TikTok. Meta has seen its usage decline as TikTok’s share has skyrocketed over the past two years, and as a result, Meta knows it needs to realign its tools to take advantage of these trends, because social media is now more about entertainment. than with social networks. it’s about connections.
And news content just isn’t the critical element it once was, unless of course it can be presented in a short, engaging video format.
Which is really what publishers and marketers should take from this. Meta is focusing more and more on short-form video, which means that if you want to maximize your engagement, and likely your referral traffic, from Facebook and IG, you need to post video content as well.
Which, of course, Meta has driven before, with his earlier ‘pivot to video‘ ultimately left many publishers in the cold when the platform turned its attention to the next trend.
That could happen again, so going all-in on video, to align with Meta’s whims, is probably not the best way to go. But incorporating more video is the key to maximizing its reach and resonance in the app. For now.