Facebook reveals plans to pivot to privacy-focused platforms

After more than a year of scandal, Facebook wants a do-over.

The company has announced sweeping changes to overhaul the social media juggernaut. The watch word, says CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is privacy.

However, critics say the changes will require a completely new business model for the company, and Zuckerberg doesn’t have a base of strong consumer trust to build upon. If the company is successful in making the changes, it could upend how brand managers, marketers and PR pros interact online.

The New York Times reported:

Mr. Zuckerberg, who runs Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, on Wednesday expressed his intentions to change the essential nature of social media. Instead of encouraging public posts, he said he would focus on private and encrypted communications, in which users message mostly smaller groups of people they know. Unlike publicly shared posts that are kept as users’ permanent records, the communications could also be deleted after a certain period of time.