TLDR: While Meta is moving away from a fact-checking system to a “Community Notes” system, similar to X, we have plans to help your brand move forward during this great social media migration.

This month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company’s decision to discontinue its fact-checking program. Now Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms under the Meta umbrella will instead use a “Community Notes” system, similar to the approach used on X (RIP Twitter).

This new method will rely on user-generated notes to provide additional context or fact-checking on posts. By adopting this system, Meta aims to step back from making direct decisions about content removal on its platforms, sparking conversations about what the lack of moderation could mean.‍

️How this will impact user activity:‍

This big moderation shift raises a key question - if the content and tone of users’ feeds begin to change, does that mean they’ll move to other platforms? It’s possible. While a hands-off  approach could be more effective than Meta’s current approach, the more likely outcome is a rise in controversial content that is unsettles users. Social media migrations from X to BlueSky show that users aren’t afraid to explore other platforms to find content that aligns with their values.‍

BlueSky was originally launched as an alternative to Twitter so users could have more control over their feeds through a decentralized model. But as of the first week of January 2025, BlueSky had approximately 26.8 million registered users — and we can expect that number to increase, especially with reports that BlueSky is developing an Instagram competitor, Flashes.

The majority of Instagram and Facebook’s user activity centers around direct messages and stories. For those who continue to use Meta, these features will play a central role as users seek to filter out noise and avoid misaligned content in their feeds — and ultimately decide where they want to view your content.‍

Our predictions for brands:

Just as many large brands chose to leave X after Elon Musk took control, we can expect brands to shift their spending to other platforms and touchpoints, following the users who are redirecting their attention elsewhere.

Brands will face the challenge of their content appearing alongside material they wouldn’t approve of if they had full control. Remember when brands wanted to review the URLS that programmatic networks served their ads on out of brand safety concerns?

It’s important to note that this shift will lead to an overall decrease in ad spend on Meta platforms. We predict that Meta may begin selling a subscription service for access to premium features, similar to the offerings on X.

Brands will follow their users to platforms where they can achieve the highest engagement — after all, this business is all about capturing your target’s attention.

️How your brand should move forward:

Consider BlueSky: Go where the eyeballs go. Brands should proactively reserve their usernames on the platform to provide the opportunity to have a presence on the platform and protect their digital identity. Please note that Ammunition has already done this for our client partners.‍

Prioritize community management: As users may become more skeptical of their feeds, prioritize community management practices to ensure that your brand continues to foster a sense of trust.

Striking stats

66% of publishers predict stronger revenues in 2025 compared to 2024. (Source: Digiday)

US consumers will spend an average of three hours and 45 minutes on mobile device apps per day in 2025. (Source: eMarketer)

In December 2024, Google.com led AI searches with 16.5 billion visitors, while ChatGPT had only 517 million. (Source: Techloy)

Lightning round

CEO Jeremy Heilpern was named to Atlanta Magazine's Atlanta 500 list, recognizing the most powerful business leaders in Atlanta.

Kate Grafton joined Ammunition as VP of Client Engagement, bringing 15 years of experience to drive growth, partnerships and business development.

Jackie Mauro was promoted to Strategist, SEO + Media.