[OhSoHumble]

Yeah, I apologize for how restrictive "want" is - I'm not sure what the appropriate word is in this context. It's more that content engagement is what drives web traffic regardless of whether or not users express desire for human connection. The social part of social media doesn't drive website expansion - content does. We love it. Yum, yum, yum.

I think if you sit a lot of people down and ask them "would you rather have cat videos or the potential to meet new friends (or maintain connections with old ones)" and people will say the want the latter but reward platforms that give them the former.

Old Facebook was maybe closer to the ideal of connecting people but Meta realized that it just doesn't drive ad revenue or engagement so they refactored it to better suit ad delivery streams and put more effort into Instagram (because it's better suited for that type of revenue model).