You just stepped into the tech world or you are looking at the most impactful tech products to date, there is no way you can miss Facebook. Similarly, list down some of the biggest names in the tech world and the list will be incomplete without mentioning Mark Zuckerberg.
A whole tech generation was raised on Mark Zuckerberg’s affect, one good product and you will become the next tech billionaire. Most millennials date and consider Mark to be the best thing that happened in the world of tech.
On the contrary, Zuckerberg has lost the charm in the eyes of Generation Z and most of the tech experts. After coming up with Facebook and offering one of the biggest and life-changing products of today’s time, it seems that Zuckerberg got on the bandwagon of mergers and acquisitions. On paper, he ticks all the right boxes for a tech miracle, a dropout, a hit wonder, an exceptional product, and a broken heart story to back all of this but in real life, he was another businessman who was a villain in his own story.
The 2018 Data Scandal and the Redemption Project
For reference, the 2018 data scandal was considered the last nail in the Facebook coffin. After the formal apology from Facebook when the data collection system continued to work, most internet companies like Optimum Internet became very famous for their privacy policies. Optimum became strict with data sharing, and data acquiring which eventually helped in keeping the customer data and the device data safe.
Although a good internet company can help, you keep your data safe it cannot replace the importance of data protection offered by the respective company or application. Even after the data scandal, Facebook got back on its feet by making Metaverse all the hype.
There was a time before ChatGPT received all the hype, Metaverse was considered the next big thing, and the Marvel project was expected to redeem Mark and Facebook as a brand. However, soon after the launch of Metaverse, the project received such an underwhelming response that it became just another dead body in the tech graveyard.
Talking of the growing dead projects in the tech graveyards, here is a list of some of the most expensive projects that failed to exhibit the Zuckerberg effect.
Top 7 Tech Projects That Failed To Meet the Expectations
- Libra
You got an idea and it is working? Well, Facebook is here to copy it. Amidst the crypto hype, Facebook came up with the idea that they also need a digital currency. The project died a miserable death after consuming a big check of budget without offering any substantial output.
- Deals
Another copy-paste idea, Deals was a tech project inspired by Groupon. Facebook wanted to bring people to enjoy some extra profit. However, the project killed nothing and committed suicide after just a few months.
After the Gmail and Yahoo fiasco, Facebook thought there was room for another rival in the market. Enter your Facebook email. Not so surprisingly, the idea of data unification did not gain enough popularity and the Facebook email was another entry into the tech graveyards of Facebook.
- Credits
Google Pay, Apple Pay, or the way you pay but Facebook thought introducing their currency was a perfect idea for the next big tech project. Needless to say, the idea was loathed by many people, and considering Facebook’s credibility, no one wanted an online wallet controlled by Facebook.
- Questions
Inspired by Quora, this app was meant to give a tough time to reading apps like Reddit and Quora. However, the app disappointed the users and received a very underwhelming response from the people.
- Threads
A very recent addition to the tech graveyards is Threads which is another giant project inspired by a famous social media site- twitter. For the first time, threads were the only tech project by Facebook that gained a lot of eyeballs for the first few days but within one week when users discovered that it offered nothing new, they took the exit route.
- Metaverse
VR or AR was seen as the future of technology before AI hijacked the idea. In fact, if you look at the tech news from a few years ago, you will realize that they were all about the anticipated tech project of the Facebook owner. Metaverse was advertised as an alternative place where people can live virtually. Needless to say, the project consumed a lot of money but failed to deliver.
Why Facebook is on a Failing Spree?
Considering the above list, one thing is clear; Meta is not considered visionary because the founder lacks the ability to coin new ideas. Their method of earning profit revolves around acquiring the projects that are currently running successfully. In case, they fail to acquire a company, they replicate the concept.
This replication generally fails because no one wants to use two identical sites when they have to go through the hassle of signing up just to use the same features. Even when users were encouraged to sign up and the process was made easy, in the case of threads, the product was so boring that it eventually committed suicide.
Bottom Line
Considering the ever-growing list of dead tech projects and the lack of vision, it is safe to say that Mark’s effect is limited to one hit wonder. The tech world is competitive, projects only become successful when they offer something new and Facebook failed to deliver that so far.
