Source: The Register
Meta's internal research shows UK users increasingly prefer Instagram's Close Friends and encrypted messaging over public feeds. The shift spans age groups, not just younger users—meaning the "share everything" business model that powered a decade of growth is collapsing even in engaged markets. Platforms now face a choice: monetize private spaces (where ads perform worse) or lose users to their own features. The economics expose a hard limit to engagement-driven design. Once people recognize strangers and algorithms are watching, the town square loses its appeal, and the business case deteriorates.