Active users on Facebook at the end of 2021 decreased for the first time in the history of the social network, founded by Mark Zuckerberg 18 years ago.

The parent company Meta has released data relating to the last quarter of last year, which show a decrease in daily active users to 1.929 billion, compared to 1.930 billion in the previous quarter.

The CEO explained the slowdown with the lower ability to hold users' attention due to "competition", arguing that they spend more time watching reels, a short video format on Instagram inspired by TikTok, which generates remuneration rates. lower than the classic Instagram formats.

"People have a lot of choice in how to pass the time - said Zuckerberg - and apps like TikTok are growing very fast."

Meta, the company that controls Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp , closed the fourth quarter of 2021 - the first since it changed its name - with revenues of $ 33.67 billion (up from $ 28.07 billion a year earlier) and a net profit of 10.29 billion dollars (-8%), below analysts' expectations.

For the current quarter Meta expects revenues between 27 and 29 billion dollars, while analysts expected a figure of around 34.53 billion.

Data that led to a resounding thud on Wall Street, with the company losing 26.4%, burning over $ 250 billion of its capitalization. This is one of the biggest losses in the history of the NY Stock Exchange.

The top of the company believe that the main cause of the sudden slowdown is the new policy inaugurated last April by Apple, which changed the software of the iPhones to ask users if they consent to be tracked. Most of them say no, by preventing Meta from selling personalized advertising according to the tastes and habits of consumers, which until now had made the fortune of the company.

Zuckerberg now hopes for the "metaverse", considered the future of the internet in Silicon Valley: a parallel universe where the public will use augmented or virtual reality glasses to interact, work or have fun.