How Meta’s MAGA Makeover is Shaping Threads 🎨✨
The year is still young, but one trend is clear: Big U.S. Tech is embracing a new fashion. Instead of vibrant and diverse, the goal now is to avoid controversy with Trump. It’s about business & power
000 Check-in 👉 A new round in the showdown between rivals Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg is kicking off. A year ago, it was all about a hyped-up but ultimately canceled cage fight. This year, the battle is for the favor of the new U.S. president.
When Big Tech CEOs made their pilgrimage to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in November, I couldn’t help but wonder: What exactly gets discussed at these meetings? Now, at the start of the year, bits and pieces are emerging about the patterns, yarns, and fabrics Zuckerberg brought back to California — enough material for a full corporate makeover.
Beyond X and TikTok, we’ll see the influence of this new style ripple through Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. The trend? Conservative chic. But what does that really look like? Let’s take a closer look at Meta’s runway.
Enjoy reading!
Daniel 🙌✨
On the Runway: Republican Realness
010 👉️ A Look Behind Meta’s MAGA Makeover
Mark Zuckerberg’s visit to President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November 2024 had a significant impact on Meta’s policy changes, triggering a swift and substantial shift in the company’s approach to content moderation and fact-checking. Zuckerberg is positioning Meta to align with the anticipated political landscape of Trump’s second term, aiming to mitigate potential conflicts and regulatory challenges. Meta’s $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund sweetens the deal.
The Big Question: Why?
Avoiding Trump’s Ire: The makeover may be an attempt to sidestep Trump’s previous threats against Zuckerberg, including the suggestion that he could "spend the rest of his life in prison."
Protecting Business Interests: By aligning with the incoming administration, Meta aims to safeguard its ambitious projects, particularly investments in virtual reality and the 'metaverse.'
Regulatory Concerns: With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and calling for new regulations on Big Tech, Zuckerberg is realigning Meta to potentially soften regulatory pressures.
These reasons seem so essential to Meta that they are willing to embrace the provocations of the makeover, which are numerous — both internally and internationally:
Internal Reactions:
Meta employees have reacted with sharp polarization to the company’s policy changes. Many expressed shock and openly criticized the new direction on internal message boards. Several employees stated they felt embarrassed to be associated with the company due to these changes. In the @Pride employee resource group, at least one individual announced their resignation, while others privately communicated intentions to seek employment elsewhere. Some employees have welcomed the changes, indicating a divide within the workforce.
International Reactions:
Meta's "MAGA makeover" will likely lead to significant consequences from Europe, particularly in relation to the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA):
Increased Regulatory Scrutiny: The changes in Meta’s content moderation policies may conflict with the DSA’s requirements, potentially leading to heightened oversight from European regulators.
Potential Fines: If Meta’s new policies are found to violate EU regulations, the company could face substantial fines under the DSA framework.
Pressure on EU Regulations: The Trump administration might use its leverage to pressure the EU to ease or adjust their policies on content moderation, potentially impacting Meta’s operations in Europe.
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How Can We Expect Threads to Change?
In this newsletter, we’ve been exploring whether Threads can become the new Twitter. The initial numbers and the realistic outlook of potentially dominating the ad market, thanks to its comparatively user-friendly environment compared to X, pointed in that direction. However, the recent news in the last two weeks has raised the question for many: Will Threads become the new X?
Meta’s first concrete move is taking place on Threads: the introduction of Community Notes as a replacement for previous moderation practices.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that more harmful content would appear on the platform as a result of this change. Meta is also reintroducing civic and political content into recommendation systems on Threads.
What This Means:
Reduced Content Moderation: The shift to a "Community Notes" system may lead to less effective moderation, as seen on X (formerly Twitter), where this approach has failed to stem the flow of misinformation.
Loss of Expert Verification: The absence of subject matter experts and certified agencies to check and flag false information will likely result in less accurate content assessment. Without fact-checkers, there may be fewer warning labels on inaccurate content, making it harder for users to identify reliable information.
Vulnerability of Specific Groups: The reduction in content moderation could remove protections for vulnerable and often targeted groups, such as minorities and marginalized communities.
Potential Echo Chamber Effect: The Community Notes system may amplify existing biases, as users from different ideological backgrounds may interpret and annotate content differently.
Increased Responsibility on Users: This change will require users to be more vigilant and critical in evaluating the information they encounter on the platform.
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030 👉️ How Does Meta’s Shift Affect the Fediverse?
Until now, many weren’t sure how serious Meta was about connecting to the Fediverse. Does the company believe in the future of decentralized social media? The more Threads connects with the Fediverse, the more likely the mainstream will explore this alternative network.
Perhaps 2025 will be the breakthrough year for the Fediverse for a different reason. Meta's MAGA makeover could indirectly contribute to the growth and evolution of the Fediverse as an alternative to centralized social media platforms. As Meta’s platforms become more permissive of controversial content and reduce fact-checking efforts, users concerned about misinformation and hate speech may seek out alternative platforms. This could lead to increased adoption of Fediverse networks like Mastodon or Bluesky.
While we can only speculate on the exact impact, here are a few possibilities:
Content Moderation Challenges: The Fediverse may face new challenges in content moderation as Meta's relaxed policies allow more extreme content to proliferate across the internet. This could put pressure on Fediverse instances to develop more robust moderation strategies.
Emphasis on Decentralization: Meta’s alignment with specific political ideologies could highlight the benefits of the Fediverse’s decentralized structure, allowing for diverse moderation policies across different instances.
Potential Growth in Fact-Checking Initiatives: As Meta abandons its partnerships with third-party fact-checkers, there may be opportunities for Fediverse platforms to collaborate with these organizations, attracting users who value fact-checking services.
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040 👉️ Learning from (Recent) History: How Well Do Community Notes Work?
Zuckerberg is now relying on Community Notes in the fight against misinformation. He follows his usual playbook: he promises the success of the new system, then copies it from a competitor. Elon Musk already introduced Community Notes on X. Do the experiences align with Zuckerberg’s promise of success?
The Community Notes system on X (formerly Twitter) has shown mixed results since its implementation. While it aims to combat misinformation through crowdsourced fact-checking, research highlights several significant challenges:
A study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that 74% of accurate notes correcting false claims about U.S. elections were not displayed on posts deemed misleading.
The system's effectiveness is limited by the speed at which notes become visible, potentially allowing misinformation to spread unchallenged.
The requirement for ideological diversity among note raters can sometimes prevent valid corrections from being published.
Only users who have interacted with a post (liked, retweeted, or commented) are notified about subsequent Community Notes, missing a larger audience who may have only viewed the content.
The removal of X’s option to report misleading tweets under its Terms and Conditions has placed a heavier burden on Community Notes to combat disinformation.
Since introducing Community Notes, X has made some changes in response to critics:
X has made efforts to display notes more quickly on the main platform.
The platform stopped monetizing tweets with Community Notes, discouraging sensational or misleading content.
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050 👉️ Next Level for the Rivalry Between Zuckerberg & Musk: A Game of Power
The origin story of Threads is, to a large extent, rooted in the rivalry between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. This feud has deep roots, dating back to 2016 when a SpaceX rocket destroyed Zuckerberg's $200 million satellite. Since then, their conflicts have expanded across multiple domains, including debates over artificial intelligence and competition in social media platforms.
A year ago, Mark Zuckerberg seemed to be winning the rivalry between the two tech billionaires. Several factors contribute to this assessment: Zuckerberg underwent a notable reputation rehabilitation, transforming from a "vengeful nerd" into someone garnering public sympathy. His performance in the rivalry has been particularly strong, especially after launching Threads, a direct competitor to Musk's X (formerly Twitter), and showcasing his jiu-jitsu skills. When the potential cage match was proposed, most social media users rallied around Zuckerberg. A Business Insider report even suggested Zuckerberg would likely defeat Musk in a physical confrontation.
But with the U.S. presidential election, the balance of power shifted: Elon Musk secured attention with X, demonstrated influence on politics, and not only earned the title of best buddy to the elected president but also secured a government job, benefiting all his ventures both regulatory and financially. Zuckerberg’s new corporate strategy seems like a counterstrike.
The rivalry between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk has played a significant role as a catalyst for Zuckerberg's strategic repositioning of Meta. This shift can be seen as a response to both the competitive landscape and the changing political climate:
Competitive Pressure: Zuckerberg’s launch of Threads as a direct competitor to Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) intensified their corporate clash. This move was part of Meta's broader strategy to compete with Musk's growing influence in the social media space.
Corporate Identity: The rivalry has highlighted Meta’s adaptability and Zuckerberg’s willingness to pivot the company’s direction in response to changing political and competitive landscapes. This flexibility is seen as a strategy for survival and growth in an uncertain environment.
Elon Musk's acquisition of X (formerly Twitter) has significantly influenced Meta’s strategic decisions, particularly in content moderation and user engagement. Meta, led by Zuckerberg, is now adopting strategies similar to those implemented by Musk at X:
Meta is ending its third-party fact-checking program in the U.S., replacing it with a crowdsourced moderation system called "Community Notes," directly inspired by X's approach.
Meta’s shift toward a more hands-off approach to content moderation aligns with Musk's emphasis on free speech and reduced restrictions on X.
The decision to adopt a community-driven approach for content moderation is seen as a direct response to Musk’s strategies at X, with Musk expressing approval of Meta’s move.
Even if Zuckerberg is following Musk’s political playbook, he hasn’t left the field entirely to Musk. But when it comes to power, Musk has proven one thing: who would have thought that Musk, with his faltering X purchase, could ultimately shake the very foundations of Meta?
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059 … 060 … You’re weekly update regarding Threads & decentralized Social Media is complete
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On our topic list: Time to monetize for platforms & creators - How does the user experience on Bluesky differ from Threads? - Threads for Corporate Influencers – is there any progress? - After the API launch, which tools make Threads better? - Open Vibe Test
More emails from Daniel? Thursdays (Podcast Strategy) – Sundays (Official Newsletter & Inspiration for the New Internet Week) – New issues of Style & Stitches come out on Wednesdays.