Thanks to their powerful network effects, social networks have been hard to dislodge once established. Even if newer services break through — think TikTok — the sheer weight of user numbers usually assures older networks a place.
As political volatility courses through the social networking world, that certainty may no longer be so dependable. The risk of political retaliation on the one hand, and of audience defection on the other, have created greater instability than at any time for years. The forces of centralisation are still powerful, but shifts in audience habits and greater fragmentation among networks are starting to look like a distinct possibility.
Meta’s decision this week to end fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram is the latest sign of this political upheaval. After replacing his company’s head of global policy with a Republican and appointing a Trump ally to its board, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg followed up on Monday by relaxing content policies, bowing to Republican complaints that his networks had veered into left-wing bias and censorship.