Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday that Facebook has managed to cut the time its users spend on the platform by 5%, which is roughly 50 million hours a day total during its fourth quarter. This is just the beginning, however, as Zuckerberg has more features in the works to make sure less time is spent on the social media site, but that the time spent is meaningful.

“Already last quarter, we made changes to show fewer viral videos to make sure people's time is well spent,” explains Zuckerberg. “In total, we made changes that reduced time spent on Facebook by roughly 50 million hours every day. By focusing on meaningful connections, our community and business will be stronger over the long term.”

This is all a part of Facebook’s plan to move away from business and further into interpersonal communication, as the platform will more prominently display content from friends and family first. “Helping people connect is more important than maximising the time they spend on Facebook,” he continued.

Credit: Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg and Facebook have previously acknowledged the sheer impact the platform has on the health of its users as well as the various cultures of its community, which is more important than the profits that the company makes.

“Helping people connect is more important than maximising the time they spend on Facebook,” he said, suggesting that these facts and figures are beneficial for the longevity of the platform. Unfortunately for users and business owners, however, this is likely to either result in an influx of more advertisements displayed in individual News Feeds to maintain the price of ads or result in its prices increasing to compensate for the loss.

Overall, Facebook is still reporting good numbers across the board with its sales exceeding analysts’ expectations, even after a $2.3bn payment that came about as a result of US tax law changes.

KitGuru Says: It’s possible that Facebook could get a lot more cluttered despite Zuckerberg wanting to make it more streamlined and user friendly, but the added benefit of people getting off the social media site might be worth it after all. How do you feel about the changes?

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