According to a newly unsealed filing in the US Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, and other Meta executives reportedly perceived TikTok as surpassing Meta in its operational approach.

2022年2月のこの文書には、FacebookとInstagramの市場での戦略について話し合うMetaの幹部たちの会話があります。あるメッセージで、ザッカーバーグはFacebookを「心と勢いを失った挑戦者」と表現しました。彼はまた、TikTokが友達同士で同じミームを見られるようにすることで、「共通の文脈」を作り出していると述べました。

Mosseri concurred that Facebook should no longer be regarded as the primary discovery engine, but rather as a challenger. He posited that YouTube could currently be the preferred discovery tool, though he anticipated, based on Meta's proprietary data, that TikTok would eventually surpass the Google-owned video platform.

モッセリ氏は、Facebookにとって一番自然な差別化戦略は、人々が何かを見つけるときに最初に使う場所になることだと述べています。彼は、TikTokがすべて動画で、私たちと大きな違いを生んでいることに興味深いと言っています。モッセリ氏は、TikTokがソーシャルモバイル市場を広げているだけでなく、テレビや長い動画、さらにはNetflixの分野にも進出していると推測しています。

Moser's perspective appears to have been accurate, as according to one study, TikTok surpassed YouTube in average viewing time in the United States in 2021. Furthermore, another study conducted by parental control software manufacturer Qustodio revealed that children aged 4-18 spent 60% more time on TikTok than YouTube in 2023. Last year, TikTok began allowing uploads of videos up to 60 minutes long in an effort to compete with YouTube.

This week, Netflix unveiled a TikTok-like feature within its mobile application, presenting users with a novel vertical feed of personalized video recommendations.

However, in this lawsuit, the US government is attempting to demonstrate a violation of competition law, alleging that Meta established a social networking monopoly through its acquisitions of companies such as Instagram and WhatsApp. Such documents could constitute detrimental evidence for the lawsuit, considering the fact that Meta executives were internally discussing how significantly Facebook was being outperformed by TikTok.

For instance, Zuckerberg indicated that even though Facebook remained the most widely used app on a daily or weekly basis, it no longer held the top position in terms of user engagement time.

He further articulated that TikTok's system cultivates a sense of 'shared context' among users, implying that if you and your friends exhibit similar interests, you are highly likely to encounter identical content on your TikTok feeds.

CEOは、「このアプローチは本質的にソーシャルであり、友人にコンテンツを送信する手間を省き、彼らが既にそれを閲覧していると推測できるからです」と説明しました。「もしFacebookが、主題や関連性に縛られずに、この水準に到達できれば、それは画期的な成果となるでしょう。」

他の執行役員たちも各自の意見を表明しました。

Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, pointed out that TikTok users commenting on videos within specific niches allows the algorithm over time to direct them and other commenters to similar content.

At the time, Stan Chudnovsky, Meta's VP and GM, added that Meta had already entered a highly fragmented space where numerous companies were vying for market share and impeding Meta's growth.

As he explained, citing other popular social apps in the US such as TikTok, Twitter, iMessage, Snap, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord, "Simply adding a new format as we did with Stories is no longer adequate, as there are numerous other platforms where people congregate."

John Hegeman, then VP of Advertising (now Chief Revenue Officer), acknowledged TikTok's clear lead in areas like short-form video content, ranking functions, and creation tools, yet asserted Meta's belief that they could bridge this gap by incentivizing creators to post on Reels.

However, he expressed uncertainty regarding the extent of Meta's lag in machine learning, technical aspects, and even content creation tools, and this document reflects Meta's perspective that Facebook is the underdog in the social media market.

Also, this was not the only document that came up during the trial to show Meta's worries about competition. Zuckerberg himself said last month that TikTok's success was a risk to Meta's business and had slowed down its growth.