Facebook... what happened?
The platform that promised to preserve our connections now has a strange way of making the past feel even further away
Have you ever left a garden party early, only to return a few hours later? The vibe is… different. The sun lies sunken in the sky, the background hum has turned into a low scream and the barbecue, still warm, is now a final resting place for miscellaneously shaped meats. What the heck happened while you were gone? Who are these people? And good grief, the state of the downstairs bathroom floor.
This is what it feels like to scroll through Facebook these days, after almost a decade of ignoring the platform. The first item that appeared on the news feed?
I am not familiar with Casper Capital’s work. But I am a card-carrying aviation nerd so perhaps the algorithm gets a pass. Next is a sponsored post, for something called DataCamp, offering me 50% off on Power BI certification.
Now we’re talking. Again, I don’t follow this page but I do fondly remember Italy vs Netherlands at Euro 2000 so no complaints. But I’m conscious that I’m yet to see a picture of a friend, or even a page I subscribed to sometime during the George W. Bush administration.
Hold on, a chance to scroll on Instagram Reels.
The Economist! I subscribe to The Economist! We’re getting closer to a friend, I can feel it…
I mean, I do have arms and a torso, I guess.
Airplanes are friends, right?
Next — no notes.
Hold on, I just noticed I have an honest to god notification. Someone I’ve never heard of has requested to join a group I created 15 years ago to raise money for a 10k run.
And just as I had given up hope, I see a friend. Well, when I say friend, I mean someone who added me on Facebook during the Cretaceous Period after chatting to me for as much as 10 minutes in the smoking section of a long-since shuttered nightclub on Hackney Road. I won’t post the picture for obvious reasons. You’ll just have to take my word for it.
Facebook used to be important. Exclusive, even. My friend Nick had to verify my identity so I could join back in 2006. It was the place where reputations were burnished, parties arranged and DMs slid into. Think of the weddings, divorces and children that never would have been possible without it! Later, it became vital for many small businesses. It even stood accused of swinging elections.
Today, the news feed is a festering confluence of adverts, suggested pages and AI slop. Millennials long ago migrated to (Meta-owned) Instagram, Gen Z to TikTok and Nazis to X. A few boomers are still on there, of course. Sorry if you just uploaded your holiday snaps from Ko Samui. Looks like you had a great time.
For something that was supposed to help us stay connected, Facebook now has a strange way of making the past feel even further away. As with any garden party that has gone on too long, what’s left is a curious mix of strangers, cigarette butts and cold sausages. It isn’t technically over — but surely you have somewhere better to be?
Just scrolled through mine too and it surprised me how little you see from your friends. But then again, is it surprising? I have posted pics 3 times in the last 4 years and that’s mainly to satisfy my mum’s friends who look on Facebook. So I guess what can I expect? It’s unlikely to give me updates from my pals. Millennials in this country certainly don’t use it for keeping up with pals.
I do find Facebook useful for community interest groups - eg …. Parent groups or local pages. It really has helped me as a mother to connect with people who are going through similar things / are in my local community.
Facebook know this tho right. We use their other apps (Instagram & WhatsApp) for what we used to use Facebook for. They don’t need us to be on there for what they used to be for, so why would they force it? When they’ve captured us so successfully elsewhere?
Excellent summary of today's Facebook. At least it accords with my experience of checking in once a year when a friend sends a link and I am moved to follow it. But even in its heyday I hated it. The user interface was always a complete dog's dinner. I was often struck by how, when I asked how to find a particular feature or view a particular page, neither my daughter nor my wife—at the time regular users—could tell me. Navigation seemed to consist of clicking on tabs and links until you chanced upon what you were looking for. Instagram was always more sorted.