According to a recent filing in the US Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Meta, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, and other company executives believed that TikTok was outperforming Meta in its own domain.

The document, originating from February 2022, contains discussions between several Meta executives concerning the strategic approach and market standing of Facebook and Instagram. In one exchange, Zuckerberg characterized Facebook as a "contender" that had "ceded mental presence and impetus," while also noting that TikTok fostered a "sense of collective understanding" through shared popular culture references among friends.

Mosseri concurred that Facebook should now be perceived as a challenger, highlighting that it is no longer the standard discovery engine. He suggested that YouTube currently serves as the primary discovery engine, but anticipated TikTok would eventually overtake the Google-owned video platform, considering the data Meta possessed.

Mosseri posited that Facebook's most organic differentiation strategy lies in becoming the primary discovery interface. However, he noted with intrigue that TikTok, being exclusively video-based, is significantly outperforming them. He speculated that TikTok is expanding the social mobile market while simultaneously encroaching upon the user bases of television, long-form video, and Netflix.

Mosseri's assertion proved correct; one study indicated that TikTok surpassed YouTube in average watch time in the U.S. in 2021, while another, conducted by parental control software developer Qustodio, revealed that children aged four to eighteen dedicated 60% more time to TikTok than YouTube in 2023, and TikTok initiated the option of 60-minute uploads last year in a direct challenge to YouTube.

Significantly, Netflix recently rolled out a comparable TikTok-style feature within its mobile application, presenting a novel vertical video stream of suggested content, tailored specifically for each user.

However, during the trial, the U.S. government is endeavouring to demonstrate that Meta contravened competition regulations through its acquisition of companies such as Instagram and WhatsApp, with the aim of establishing a social networking monopoly. A document of this nature could undermine their legal argument, considering internal discussions among Meta executives highlighted the significant competitive pressure Facebook was experiencing from TikTok.

For example, Zuckerberg pointed out that although Facebook continued to be the largest application based on the number of daily or weekly active users, it had been surpassed in terms of the amount of time people spent on it.

He further asserted that TikTok fosters a sense of shared context among users. He elaborated that if individuals and their peers share common interests, they are likely to encounter analogous content within their TikTok feeds.

This makes it social because you can just assume your friends have seen the content, instead of having to send it to them,” the CEO said. “It would be great if we could get this level of awareness for different topics and content on Facebook.”

A number of other executives also contributed their perspectives.

According to Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, TikTok's algorithm can progressively connect users who comment on videos within a specific niche, ultimately directing them and other commenters towards similar content.

Stan Chudnovsky, who held the position of VP and GM at Meta at the time, commented that Meta had recently entered a competitive arena that had become highly fractured, with numerous companies diminishing their growth.

"Simply incorporating a new format, as we did with Stories, no longer suffices. The landscape of online platforms is considerably more diverse now," he further explained, enumerating other prevalent social applications in the U.S., such as TikTok, Twitter, iMessage, Snap, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord.

John Hegeman, who was the VP of ads and is now the chief revenue officer, agreed that TikTok was clearly ahead in areas like short videos, ranking features, and creation tools. However, he said he thought Meta could catch up if creators also posted on Reels.

However, he expressed less certainty regarding Meta's comparative standing in machine learning, technical expertise, and creative tools. The document suggests that Meta perceives Facebook as being at a disadvantage within the social media landscape.

This is also not the only document that has appeared during the trial to show Meta's fear of competition. Last month, Zuckerberg himself said that TikTok's success was a risk to Meta's business and had made it grow more slowly.