Facebook will be retiring its Instant Articles offering in April next year. Instant Articles were designed to provide publishers with a more engaging, fast-loading way to present their articles on Facebook. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently noted that video viewing makes up 50% of all time spent on Facebook, while Reels is the fastest growing content format across both Facebook and Instagram. As a business it doesn’t make sense to over invest in areas that don't align with user preferences, as a business. The change in direction makes sense – and even Zuck himself has acknowledged that he overlooked the potential of this behavioral development. The demise of Instant Articles is just the latest move in this shift – and as a result, Meta knows that it needs to re-align its tools to tap into these trends Meta is in a good position as the shift away from Instant Articles indicates growing consumer interest in video content. This is good news for Meta as it means that its tools will be more in-line with what consumers want and need, and that it has staying power.

October 27, 2022 12:17 PM