Facebook’s News Feed Move “The Right Thing To Do”: WPP’s Martin Sorrell

Facebook’s News Feed Move “The Right Thing To Do”: WPP’s Martin Sorrell

WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell has come out in support of Facebook’s recently-announced update to its News Feed, which could see publishers and brands lose out big time.

On Friday morning, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed in a post that the social media giant will begin prioritising content from users’ families, friends and groups over brands and media companies.

“Recently we’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content – posts from businesses, brands and media – is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other,” he wrote.

“Some news helps start conversations on important issues. But too often today, watching video, reading news or getting a page update is just a passive experience.

“Since there’s more public content than posts from your friends and family, the balance of what’s in News Feed has shifted away from the most important thing Facebook can do – help us connect with each other.”

Zuckerberg said he expects the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement will go down as a result of the move.

“But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable,” he added.

The announcement comes just after Zuckerberg said 2018 is the year he will “fix” Facebook.

Facebook’s latest effort to “encourage meaningful interactions between people” and make users’ time on the platform more valuable is based on research that essentially points the finger at publishers and brands for decreasing their wellbeing.

“Research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our wellbeing,” Zuckerberg wrote.

“We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long-term measures of happiness and health.

“On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos – even if they’re entertaining or informative – may not be as good.”

Speaking to Adweek, WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell said Facebook’s move “seems to be the right thing to do, because there are certain publishers who are responsible publishers and there are certain [others] that you need to monitor more carefully.”

Paul Smalera, ideas editor at business publication Quartz, reckons Facebook is implementing a strategy used by drug dealers to maintain users’ addiction and stop them from going cold turkey.

“This move was surely carefully designed, with product managers realising that users who abandon social media are unlikely to return, while a cut-down dose of its drug might keep feed junkies hanging around longer, searching for that scrolling high,” Smalera wrote.

“Ask any dealer – cutting the product is a better scenario than having users overdose and turn up dead.

“In Facebook’s case, ‘dead’, mercifully, would mean a user who quits the site cold turkey, and sets themselves free of social media. And that’s clearly not a world Zuckerberg wants to live in.”

B&T contacted Facebook for comment.




Latest News

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore
  • Marketing

2045: A New Melbourne-Based Creative Agency Founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore

2045, a Melbourne-based creative agency founded by Tim Evans and Nick Auditore has just launched. The agency takes its name from the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted organic and artificial intelligence would converge. Lead Image: 2045 Team Evans was formerly a Partner and Executive Strategy Director at DT (now AKQA), before co-founding B.B.E in 2015. […]

New Years Eve fireworks
  • Marketing

National Breast Cancer Foundation Announced as Charity Partner For NYE Sydney

The National Breast Cancer Foundation has been announced as the Charity Partner for Sydney New Year’s Eve. The Australian not-for-profit organisation is represented by the pink ribbon and raises money to fund world-class research towards its vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. Research that saves lives through a better understanding of how to prevent […]

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”
  • Campaigns

Emporium Unveils Unique Christmas Campaign: “Every Tradition Starts Somewhere”

This holiday season, Emporium Melbourne has announced its festive creative campaign that celebrates and encourages the Melbourne community to embrace their personal ‘untraditional traditions’ – the unique traditions that make Christmas truly special for them, and their family. The campaign’s tagline, “Every tradition starts somewhere”, reflects Emporium’s commitment to embracing, inspiring and applauding diverse traditions […]

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats
  • Technology

Reddit Updates Conversation Placement Ads Formats

Reddit has announced updates to its new ads placement with Carousel Ads and Product Ads. These new units, placed in the heart of Reddit discussions, provide an even more dynamic and compelling way for advertisers to scale to relevant audiences, deliver deeper value to users, and drive stronger, full-funnel performance among the hundreds of thousands […]

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts
  • Media

Full Throttle Into 2024: Drive.com.au Announces 12 New Products In 2024 Upfronts

Automotive Network Drive has announced its 2024 upfronts, its biggest in more than a decade, with a suite of more than 12 new products that underpin its vision to be the number one automotive network in Australia. Now in its 27th year and with a monthly audience of 2.45 million, Drive is leveraging its reputation […]

oOh!media Unveils 51 New Large Format Sites This Year
  • Advertising

oOh!media Unveils 51 New Large Format Sites This Year

oOh!media continues to rapidly expand its large format digital network, launching seven new sites at premium locations across major arterials in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The latest large format digitals include another premium site in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Mosman. Positioned at the gateway of the lower north shore on Military Road, the high-impact […]

Seven Uses Gen AI to Push Tech Boundaries With Ignite
  • Media

Seven Uses Gen AI to Push Tech Boundaries With Ignite

The Seven Network revealed the results of the second round of its flagship innovation initiative – Ignite – which saw seven employee-led generative AI concepts selected for prototype development. An inspiring three-week event, Ignite brings together internal cross-functional teams of engineers, data scientists, product managers and staff from across the business to collaborate and develop […]

Australian Agency Engaging.io Slam Dunks With Texas NBA Team
  • Marketing

Australian Agency Engaging.io Slam Dunks With Texas NBA Team

Australian tech consultancy Engaging.io has scored a major business win with the appointment by a leading Texas-based US National Basketball Association (NBA) team to revolutionise its marketing and communication strategies. The powerhouse NBA franchise turned to Sydney-headquartered Engaging to spearhead a major HubSpot implementation, driving greater efficiencies, personalisation and a more seamless experience for fans. […]

Dentsu QLD Partners With DeadlyScience & UnLtd To Drive STEM Programs With First Nations Youth
  • Media

Dentsu QLD Partners With DeadlyScience & UnLtd To Drive STEM Programs With First Nations Youth

Dentsu Queensland has formed a strategic partnership with DeadlyScience, an organisation that provides science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) resources to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students across Australia. The partnership is in collaboration with UnLtd, which helps connect the media and marketing industries with charities helping children and young people at risk. This is […]

Revolution360 Parent Venetian Media Group Acquires Digital Native
  • Technology

Revolution360 Parent Venetian Media Group Acquires Digital Native

Victoria-based Venetian Media Group (VMG) has acquired web and digital strategy shop Digital Native. Lead image L-R: VMG CEO, Michael Fishwick; Digital Native big chief, Matt Gardan.  Digital Native specialises in digital strategy, branding, UX and web design it has deep experience in renewables, emerging technology and not-for-profit. Its web design process and collaborative approach […]

Murmur Group Launches High-Octane Campaign For Rare Spares Rockynats
  • Campaigns

Murmur Group Launches High-Octane Campaign For Rare Spares Rockynats

One of Australia’s biggest off-street car and motorbike festivals, Rare Spares Rockynats, is returning to Rockhampton for Easter 2024 and has kicked off its promotional calendar with a high-octane media campaign. The two-phase campaign, via award-winning marketing agency Murmur-Group, will launch across large format out-of-home and retail placements and will be supported by local radio, […]