It would hardly be hyperbole to say that since its founding in 2004, Facebook has taken over the world – counting more than 50% of the global population as its user base. But after years of domination built on advertising revenue, the company has nearly overnight tried to knock down that empire and build anew.

In October 2021, more than 15 years and 2.8 billion users after the then student Mark Zuckerberg launched the social media platform from his college dorm, Facebook announced it had become “Meta” and was refocusing on the company’s virtual reality endeavors.

But can a Silicon Valley wunderkind successfully pull off a world-changing technology for the second time? Experts say that with regulatory concerns, technological setbacks, and branding troubles, the company’s path into the metaverse is not without its roadblocks.

User base waning

The attempt to reorient comes at a time when growth has become a major problem for Meta’s key business, Facebook.

In its most recent quarterly results, Meta revealed that Facebook had recorded its first decline in daily active users – a key metric for investors – since it was founded in 2004.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/13/meta-facebook-metaverse-zuckerberg-future