Meta Chart Reveals Decline in Social Connections on FB & Insta
A recent chart presented by Meta during its ongoing antitrust trial with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sparked widespread discussion about the evolving nature of social media. (Image credit social media)
Meta Antitrust Trial: Social Media Shifts as Friend Content Drops from 22% to 17% on Facebook, 11% to 7% on Instagram by 2025
By S Jha
New Delhi, April 29, 2025 – A recent chart presented by Meta during its ongoing antitrust trial with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sparked widespread discussion about the evolving nature of social media.
The data, revealed on April 15, 2025, shows a significant decline in the “percent of time spent viewing content posted by friends” over the past two years. On Facebook, this figure dropped from 22% in 2023 to 17% in 2025, while on Instagram, it fell from 11% to 7%. The revelation underscores a broader trend: social media platforms are becoming less social, shifting focus from personal connections to entertainment and messaging.
Meta’s chart, part of its defence against the FTC’s accusation of monopolizing the personal social networking market, highlights how user behaviour has changed. The company attributes the decline to its prioritization of short-form video and algorithmic content recommendations, which often favour entertainment over personal posts.
In response, Meta made efforts to reverse this trend, such as launching a “friends” tab on Facebook in March 2025 to display only posts, stories, and reels from known contacts, free of algorithmic distractions.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg described this as a move to revive the “OG Facebook” experience, emphasizing personal connections.
However, the data fueled concerns among users and experts alike. Ravi Thakur, a social media analyst with over a decade of experience studying digital trends, shared his perspective on X: “Social media has become less social. The percentage of time spent viewing content posted by friends has declined over the past two years, from 21% to 17% on Facebook and from 11% to 7% on Instagram. From Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony.”
Thakur’s slight variation in the Facebook percentage (21% vs. 22%) suggests potential discrepancies in how the data is interpreted or reported.
Critics argue that Meta’s algorithmic changes, while boosting engagement with videos and recommended content, may be alienating users who value personal connections. A 2018 email from Adam Mosseri, cited in Meta’s presentation, noted that “most personal sharing will be in messaging”, with Instagram evolving into “more of a messaging app than a broadcast-sharing app”.
This shift to private messaging —where Meta reports 63 times more messages are sent daily than posts on Facebook — suggests that users are seeking more intimate spaces for connection, away from public feeds dominated by entertainment.
The implications of this trend are significant.
While Meta argues that its platforms face fierce competition from TikTok and YouTube, positioning them as entertainment hubs rather than social networks, the FTC contends that Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were strategic moves to neutralize rivals, limiting options for users seeking genuine social interaction.
The trial’s outcome could reshape the social media landscape, potentially leading to a court-ordered breakup of Meta or a setback for the FTC’s regulatory efforts. As social media continues to evolve, users may need to adapt to a new reality where platforms prioritize engagement over connection.
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