Mark Zuckerberg Says Social Media Is Over

Summary of the New Yorker article “Mark Zuckerberg Says Social Media Is Over” by Kyle Chayka (April 23, 2025):

During the opening of Meta’s antitrust trial, Mark Zuckerberg argued that platforms like Facebook and Instagram no longer function primarily as social networks in the way they did in the 2000s—instead, they now resemble mass media outlets focused on entertainment, news, influencers, and AI-generated content, rather than posts from friends and acquaintances. The article notes that internal Meta data showed a decline in time viewing friend‑posted content—from ~22 % to 17 % on Facebook, and from ~11 % to 7 % on Instagram over the past two years. Meta’s legal defense hinges on the claim that, since the industry has shifted so fundamentally, no single company can monopolize the broad market of digital entertainment and informational content—thus undermining FTC definitions that narrowly restrict competition to “personal social networking services,” and failing to include platforms like TikTok and YouTube as competitors. Critics, including analyst Benedict Evans, viewed the FTC’s market definition as overly narrow or even gerrymandered.

In sum: Zuckerberg testified that social media is no longer “social”—it’s become generic content consumption—and Meta is arguing that changes in the industry mean it cannot be held to the old definitions of monopoly power.