CBMK 004 THE DEATH OF META AND THE BIRTH OF NEW PLATFORMS:

THE DEATH OF META AND THE BIRTH OF NEW PLATFORMS:

I’ve been watching the market closely ever since Australia introduced the under-16 social media ban — and let me tell you, the numbers we’re seeing publicly do NOT reflect what’s actually happening behind the scenes.

Right now, Meta (Facebook + Instagram) looks stable on the charts.But that’s only because the system is designed to make it look stable.

Tech companies have spent years perfecting the art of smoothing out dips, hiding demographic losses, and manipulating engagement metrics to make it seem like nothing has changed.

But something has changed — and anyone on the ground can see it.

📉 THE TRUTH: UNDER-16s DRIVE THE ALGORITHM — NOT ADULTS

Research has shown over and over that the most active, engaged, and influential users on Meta platforms sit between 10 and 18 years old.

They:
• generate the trends
• push the algorithm
• create the culture
• make features go viral
• bring everyone else to a platform

They may not bring the advertising dollars, but they bring the traffic,
and traffic is what keeps a platform alive.

Remove the demographic that drives the algorithm
and the algorithm collapses — slowly at first, then all at once.

📉 THIS IS EXACTLY HOW MYSPACE DIED

People didn’t abandon MySpace because they hated it.

They left because the new generation moved somewhere else — and everyone followed.

That’s how social platforms shift.

It only takes a few months for young users to:
• get comfortable on a smaller platform
• build communities
• create new trends
• drag the next wave of users with them

Once teens settle somewhere new, they don’t come back.
They move the entire digital culture with them — every time.

🌏 AND HERE’S THE PART THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND

Small tech companies overseas don’t have to comply with Australian laws.
Australia has no international jurisdiction over foreign platforms.

So these smaller platforms — the ones young people will naturally migrate to — don’t need to care about Canberra or their new ban.

They’ll operate freely, and kids will flock there.

If Meta thinks removing under-16s won’t push a whole generation somewhere else, they’ve forgotten the very lesson that built Facebook in the first place.

🎯 WATCH THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD — IT WILL SHOW EVERYTHING

This is the time when:
• kids try new apps
• online communities grow fastest
• new platforms spike
• algorithms get tested

Meta can manipulate charts temporarily,
but they can’t hide the migration that is already starting.

You’ll see:
• engagement drops
• creator reach collapsing
• smaller platforms exploding all because the generation that drives the internet has been shut out.

🚀 THE NEW GENERATION WILL DECIDE WHAT COMES NEXT — NOT META

Kids will find the platforms that respect them, let them create, and don’t treat them like a liability.
Those platforms will grow — fast.

And Meta will follow MySpace into the digital museum.

👉 Follow me on Code Black with Madison King on