Zuckerberg Once Considered Separating Instagram To Protect Facebook

In a private email revealed during the antitrust trial, Zuckerberg warned that buying Instagram might cause a “network collapse” of the more profitable Facebook.

Zuckerberg proposed integrating Meta’s apps to counter Instagram’s impact on Facebook’s relevance and even considered making Instagram an independent company.

In its case against Meta, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is trying to demonstrate that the company holds a monopoly in social networking and used acquisitions like Instagram and WhatsApp to preserve its market dominance. To support this claim, prosecutors are presenting emails and other communications showing that Zuckerberg recognized Instagram as a potential threat to Facebook, even after the platform was integrated into Meta’s ecosystem.

In a May 2018 email, Zuckerberg warned top execs that Facebook’s app strategy might be flawed.

Instagram negatively impacted Facebook’s growth.

Zuckerberg raised concerns that Instagram’s rapid growth was hurting Facebook, citing internal data showing declining engagement as users shifted platforms. He warned that pushing Instagram to Facebook’s scale could backfire, potentially causing broader harm.

He noted Instagram’s growth relied on Facebook’s app and network, warning it risked replacing the more profitable Facebook with a less lucrative platform.

To address this, Facebook reduced Instagram promotions and encouraged features that would drive users back to Facebook. Zuckerberg called for tighter integration between the platforms to function more as a unified network.

Zuckerberg suggested, for instance, that it should be simpler for video creators with large followings to engage across both apps. Additionally, he proposed merging the voice and video calling networks of WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram into a single network. (Meta later introduced cross-platform messaging in 2020, but eventually reversed the change in subsequent years.)

The approach of a unified family of apps versus separating them into individual entities.

Zuckerberg noted challenges in developing Instagram and WhatsApp due to strong founder influence and regretted that management couldn’t openly voice concerns without risking team morale or losing Instagram’s co-founders.

He also advocated for the company to reconsider its product branding, ensuring that Facebook’s brand stayed at the forefront.

Zuckerberg suggested in his email, “When you open those apps, it should say ‘Instagram by Facebook’ and ‘WhatsApp by Facebook.’ We might even need to incorporate Facebook branding into the app interface, where the app names and logos are currently, to reinforce this connection in users’ minds.”

Zuckerberg urged Meta to reconsider its branding strategy to ensure that Facebook remained the focal point.

In 2021, Facebook chose to rebrand as Meta, with its logo now featured on all of the company’s apps.

If the FTC succeeds in its case, Meta may be forced to separate Instagram and WhatsApp into independent businesses. Ironically, this is a strategy that Zuckerberg himself proposed in a 2018 email, suggesting it could be the “only structure” to achieve the company’s objectives. He argued that spinning off Instagram could help maintain Facebook’s growth, streamline Meta’s teams, and potentially allow the company to retain Systrom, Wrote Zuckerberg. (Instagram’s founders left later that same year, in September 2018.)

Ultimately, Meta kept its acquisitions together, but Zuckerberg warned executives there was a real chance regulators could force a spin-off of Instagram and WhatsApp within 5–10 years, risking the loss of their entire app ecosystem.

If the FTC prevails in court, Zuckerberg’s prediction will be validated.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Meta minimized the significance of these emails.

A Meta spokesperson said, “Documents from years ago, taken out of context and related to acquisitions the FTC reviewed more than a decade ago, won’t alter the competition we’re up against or strengthen the FTC’s weak case.”

Read the original article on: TechCrunch

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