Advertisers reel in the wake of Facebook’s news ban, but hold out hope the impact will be minimal
With Facebook exercising its nuclear option for Australia’s news, M&C Saatchi’s Emma Parsons and Chloe Schneider examine the fallout.
On Thursday morning Australia woke up to a shock, but not a surprise. A Facebook feed devoid of news content, Instagram and Twitter abuzz with the fallout, and media professionals scrambling to figure out the impact this may have, now and in the future.
The truth is, we’ve been observing smoke signals, like Facebook shifting their focus back to friends, family and community connections, since last year. Engineers started figuring out how to effectively sweep news off the platform back in September, and Facebook warned only a month ago they were considering this move if the legislation passed. Despite the signs and warning, we were blindsided, as few expected this bold move to actually be deployed.
