At one time, Google and Facebook were lauded for their contributions to the internet, whether as a dominant search engine or as a social media pioneer. However, these giants and other tech companies seem to have strayed from their roots and have let their core offerings degrade, leaving longtime users frustrated and trapped without an adequate replacement. Sponsored content has hindered useful search results and buried social media connections, and for ecommerce giant Amazon, “junkification” makes finding high-quality products a crapshoot.
With user experience sacrificed in favor of profits, these tech giants have been chasing short-term fads and attempting to transform their operations to appease shareholders. For starters, companies such as Meta have abandoned their core products, or in it in its case, shedding the Facebook label in favor of promoting its “metaverse” pipe dream. The experience of connecting with friends, families, and communities has become bogged down by auxiliary features, and Mark Zuckerberg’s obsession with creating an all-encompassing internet experience has recruited few converts from the platform’s core audience.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella fell victim to trend chasing by jumping into the metaverse conversation and buying the hype too early. The company might be making the same mistake again by going overboard with AI. An overzealous growth mindset seems to be killing consumer confidence in the big tech stalwarts—whether it bends back in favor of users is all up to them.
