The Great Facebook Video Swindle

In 2016, Facebook began to claim that video was going to be the main news medium in the near future. They reported false numbers which lead other companies to believe that they were better off getting rid of some of their writing staff and putting that time and money in to creating good videos. However, that was harder than they expected it to be, and as it turns out, older people and younger people alike actually prefer reading than watching videos.

Key Takeaways:

• The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Facebook had “vastly overestimated average viewing time for video ads on its platform for two years” by as much as “60 to 80 percent.”
• Because of the “data”, major media companies shifted en masse from text to video. They laid off most of their writers, who created content quickly and cheaply, and switched to producing more video, which is way more costly and time-consuming, and requires distribution on other platforms, like Facebook.
• When people were surveyed about why they didn’t watch online video for news, the top response was “I find reading quicker and more convenient.”

“When asked whether one prefers to read, watch, or listen to their news, younger adults are far more likely than older ones to opt for text, and most of that reading takes place on the web.”

Read more: https://www.copyblogger.com/facebook-swindle/