
Ask HN: Is this the real reason of the crusade against Facebook and Zuckerberg? - the_other_guy
I think there is a hidden reason behind that the media has been raging against Facebook and Zuckerberg for the last couple of years. I guess the Russia collusion and data collection scandals are pure pretexts for the real reason which is that Facebook changed its feed algorithm 3 or 4 years ago so that Facebook pages became simply dead. Views and interactions have became very low even for pages with millions of likes and followers. An ordinary Facebook post that could simply get 10,000 likes in 2014 can&#x27;t even get 100 likes now. Even with lots of money paid to Facebook to promote posts, you still can&#x27;t get half the exposure you got 3 or 4 years ago for free. Facebook made many changes so that users stay in Facebook as long as possible including making it harder to view YouTube videos inside Facebook and blatantly allowing stealing videos from YouTube. And unlike most other social media outlets, Facebook doesn&#x27;t reward influencers and popular pages for doing a good job. It&#x27;s like everybody knew that Zuckerberg got greedy and wanted every cent for himself only. And now publishers and media outlets are seeing the opportunity to punish Zuckerberg for his greed. I also think Facebook&#x27;s feed algorithm change is the real reason why Reddit became even more popular in the last 3 years for example.
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uberman
While I can't speak to the popularity of Reddit, I am certain this theory is
not correct.

People are legitimately pissed about the constant exposure of their personal
data. Exposure not just by Facebook, but by many collectors be it Amazon,
Target or Equifax. Exposures that had essentially no consequences for the
collectors.

People are pissed and and they let their representatives know. At governmental
inquiries all over the world Facebook appears to have bold faced lied about
how they operate. Now politicians are pissed.

When the people and their representatives are collectively pissed at
something, two things are sure to happen. Firstly, the media will cover it and
potentially rile up the various players. Secondly, there will be (at least
calls for) fines and special taxes.

IMHO, this collective ire at Facebook has nothing to do with changes to feed
algorithms.

------
jakobov
It is not just a crusade against facebook, it is a crusade against tech. FB is
just an easy target.

I believe there are powerful people funding much of this crusade. They are
threatened by the growing power of SV.

Soros, old money, maybe state actors... Soros admitted to it:
[https://www.fastcompany.com/40533252/george-soros-is-
taking-...](https://www.fastcompany.com/40533252/george-soros-is-taking-on-
big-tech-next)

I remember seeing that Soros article before the crusade started and thinking
"hmm... I wonder what he can do"

~~~
happppy
Hmmmm... I wonder you have some super powers of knowing things before :P

