Feature Story
Algorithms, Unauthenticity, and AI Tis The Season for Face-To-Face Conversations
by Clayton Stallings, contributing writer
Remember, many years ago, when social media was our main way to keep in touch with old friends and extended family? Boy, things have changed over the last few years. There has been far more division within our nation and local communities due to social media use. It has become a cesspool of shock entertainment by conflict entrepreneurs, and the algorithms continue to divide us by our political ideologies.
“ This change of fortune was driven by an 80 % reduction in staff, which notably included all of its content moderation staff and partners. That change directly led to a marked decline in content quality and negative shift in tone. This caused millions of active users to leave the platform, and it raised brand safety concerns among advertisers, many of which reduced or ended their advertising. As a result, X is“ barely breaking even” and has sued its former advertisers, claiming conspiracy.”
White continues in the section“ Meta Doubles Down on the Wrong Lessons.”
“ On Jan. 7, a couple of weeks before Donald Trump’ s inauguration, Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would be“ restoring free expression on our platforms” by getting rid of fact-checkers, removing restrictions on controversial topics like immigration and gender, dialing back other content filters, increasing recommendations of political content and“ going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world going after American companies and pushing to censor more.” 1
Recent observations indicate a significant decline in social media usage. Many users are posting less frequently, with nearly a third of social media users reporting reduced activity compared to the previous year. This trend is particularly noticeable among younger adults, especially those in Generation Z( those born from 1997 to 2012).
According to a March 2025 CMSWire editorial by Chad S White titled:“ X, Meta and the Great Social Media Meltdown,”“ Since Musk purchased the platform in 2022 for $ 44 billion, X’ s valuation has plunged. According to Fidelity’ s valuation of its investment in X, the platform’ s worth has fallen by 79 % to just $ 9.4 billion. Brand Finance is even less generous, valuing it at just $ 498 million earlier this year.
While gradually restricting organic brand reach to almost zero over the years, social media networks have created a demand for an indirect presence via influencers. However, trust has taken a massive hit as most consumers believe influencers“… only endorse and promote products because they’ re paid to, not because they use or even like the product.” 1
Moreover, our former social media giants continue to perpetuate the war on drugs propaganda by excluding cannabis content, shadowbanning posts, or completely shutting down user profiles.
The CMSWire article goes on to say,“ Authenticity and trust are being further undermined by AI bots, which in some cases are being
28 December 2025