A World Without Facebook
November 26, 2018
Mark “The Zucc” Zuckerberg hasn’t been able to catch a break this year. From taking the blame for Donald Trump’s election, which ultimately led to his televised & highly criticized testimony to Congress, to Facebook dropping 20% in stock value, losing roughly $120-$510 billion in a blink of an eye – Zuckerberg and Facebook cannot stay out of the headlines.
While it may seem to many that the world would be better off without The Zucc & his Facebook, would that really be the case? Let’s discover how Facebook’s 1.5 billion daily active users would thrive without co-dependency from the social platform.
Facebook and News
Over 65% of Americans get at least some of their news from a social media platform, with 44% accounting for people who get their news on Facebook. Facebook has been highly criticized for its supposed role in the spread of “fake news” throughout the world, especially during election seasons.
With Facebook gone, the way that we consume our news would fall more heavily onto platforms such as Apple & Google’s News applications, YouTube, Twitter & of course traditional news outlets such as cable television.
Facebook and Advertising
Facebook is still one of the leading platforms when it comes to digital marketing and advertising. As of 2017, Facebook reported a $39.9 billion revenue from digital advertisements alone. The company is able to advertise not only on its main platform but Instagram and Messenger as well.
Companies have been able to reach millions of customers and acquire many leads thanks to Facebook and its sister platforms. Video marketing has been extremely effective, with many watching not only videos they find interesting in their newsfeed but also advertisements that happen during a brief pause halfway through the video that they are interested in.
Without Facebook, a huge advertising platform would cease to exist as well. Companies would have to search elsewhere for reaching their audience through social media – most likely YouTube, Twitter, and Snapchat.
Facebook and Its Apps
Not too many people realize just how many other applications and companies Facebook owns & manages. For the sake of this article, we’ll also imagine that all major companies owned by Facebook will cease to exist as well.
Messenger
Messenger is the application used to send messages, make phone calls & play mini games while competing against your friends. Without Messenger, we’d most likely feel the loss of the following features:
- Free calling over Wi-Fi to other Messenger users
- Automated chat-bots for our business profiles
- Language learning Messenger bots
- Live customer service from companies/groups
With over 95 million photos & videos being uploaded per day, and over 40 billion photos & videos uploaded on the platform in total since its conception, Instagram is one of Facebook’s greatest assets. Especially since it is the way to reach a younger audience for advertisement purposes. It was purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion. Without Instagram, we’d most likely feel the loss of the following features:
- Sharing photos & videos instantly and marketing them via hashtags and promoted posts
- Staying in touch with our friends and families while sharing memories and moments with them through our uploads
- Advertising opportunities to a younger audience (as most young people are ditching Facebook for platforms such as Instagram, YouTube & Snapchat)
- Live streaming & IGTV (Instagram TV)
- Viewing & sharing stories (short videos to share your current activities with your followers)
If you have ever lived outside of the United States or have any connection with someone outside of the United States, it’s very likely that you rely on or at least have heard of WhatsApp. With over 1.5 billion daily active users, WhatsApp offers free texting, voice & video calls (via the Internet) to other WhatsApp users. It was purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion. Without WhatsApp, we’d most likely feel the loss of the following features:
- Free texting and voice/video calling to other WhatsApp users worldwide
- Viewing & sharing stories
- Virtual reporting to news outlets that have active WhatsApp accounts for news tips from civilians
- Virtual reporting to police departments and other governmental offices that have active WhatsApp accounts for tips from civilians
- Viewing & sharing stories
Oculus
If you’re a fan of virtual reality, you’ve definitely heard of Oculus. Founded in 2012 and purchased by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion, Oculus is one of the biggest brands when it comes to virtual reality. Zuckerberg was criticized for using his virtual reality technology to see the damage Puerto Rico received from Hurricane Maria. Without Oculus, we’d most likely feel the loss of the following features:
- Oculus’ Advanced virtual reality hardware
- Innovation in the VR world led by the Oculus team
- Virtual reality gaming and world tours
- Virtual reality art viewing
Masquerade
Masquerade is probably something you’ve never heard of but definitely have used before. In order to compete with Snapchat and its augmented reality facial filters, Facebook acquired Masquerade in 2016. These filters are integrated into Messenger and can be used to take both selfies with as well as within video calls for both visual effects & even mini-games! Without Masquerade, we’d most likely feel the loss of the following features:
- Masquerade’s advanced augmented reality filters
- Mini-games built into Masquerade
