Meta Plans Massive AI Content Push Across Social Platforms as Third Era of Social Media

Mark Zuckerberg is excited to add more AI content to all your social feeds

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is getting ready to dump even more AI-generated posts into your social feeds. During an earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg said the company will "add yet another huge corpus of content" to its recommendations system as AI "makes it easier to create and remix" work that gets shared online. "Social media has gone through two eras so far," Zuckerberg said. "First was when all content was from friends, family, and accounts that you followed directly. The second was when we added all of the Creator content." Though Zuckerberg stops short of calling AI the third era of social media, it's clear that the technology will be heavily involved in what comes next. Zuckerberg said that recommendation systems that "deeply understand" AI-generated posts and "show you the right content" will become "increasingly valuable." The company has already begun embedding AI tools across its apps and is now experimenting with dedicated AI social apps, too. Meta CFO Susan Li said people generated over 20 billion images within the company's new Vibes app, which serves up a feed of AI-generated videos, similar to OpenAI's Sora. "I think that Vibes is an example of a new content type enabled by AI, and I think that there are more opportunities to build many more novel types of content ahead," Zuckerberg added. Meta reported revenue of $51.24 billion this quarter, up 26 percent year over year, but took a one-time $15.93 billion tax charge associated with President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.

Meta will add a 'huge corpus' of AI content into its recommendation system

It looks like Meta's Vibes feed is just the start of the company's pivot toward AI slop. In an earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that "we're going to add yet another huge corpus of content" to Meta's recommendation system, via AI's ability to create and remix content -- so you're likely to see even more AI generated posts on Facebook and Instagram. "Social media has gone through two eras so far. First was when all content was from friends, family, and accounts that you followed directly. The second was when we added all the creator content," he said, seemingly suggesting that AI content will be the third era. Zuckerberg added that recommendation systems that "deeply" understand AI content are "increasingly valuable" since they can "help you achieve your goals." He then nodded to Vibes, calling it an example of a new type of content enabled by AI. Retention on the feed "is looking good so far, and its usage keeps growing quickly week over week," he proclaimed. Furthermore, there are more opportunities to build "many more novel types of content aheads, as our new models become ready," Zuckerberg added. To put some numbers to Vibes takeup, Meta CFO Susan Li said that users have generated over 20 billion images in the feed to date. Meta has already introduced a number of AI features across its social media platforms. Those include in-app photo and video editing via text prompts directly in Instagram Stories, AI chatbots across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, and a standalone Meta AI app that includes an AI assistant and discovery feed.

Expect more AI slop in Instagram, and more ads in Threads - 9to5Mac

The remarks were made during Meta's earnings call, as Engadget reports. Zuckerberg said that "we're going to add yet another huge corpus of content" to Meta's recommendation system, via AI's ability to create and remix content -- so you're likely to see even more AI generated posts on Facebook and Instagram. "Social media has gone through two eras so far. First was when all content was from friends, family, and accounts that you followed directly. The second was when we added all the creator content," he said, seemingly suggesting that AI content will be the third era. Li discussed the ramping up of ads in the Threads app. Li said that "ads are now running globally" in the Threads feed. The company had previously brought ads to Threads users in 30 countries following a small test earlier this year. This week, the company also announced that it would expand the type of ad formats on Threads, including video ads. "We're following our typical monetization playbook of optimizing the ads formats and performance," Li said. In lighter app news, OpenAI has said you can now create cameos of your pets or, indeed, anything else in the Sora app.

Meta leans into AI in your feeds

Your Meta-owned feeds -- Instagram and Facebook, notably -- may soon feature even more content generated by artificial intelligence. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself said that was the plan. Zuckerberg made the declaration during an earnings call this week. He talked about AI being the next big change in what appears on your social feeds. Said Zuckerberg (emphasis added): "Improvements in our recommendation systems will also become even more leveraged as the volume of AI-created content grows. Social media has gone through two eras so far. First was when all content was from friends, family, and accounts that you followed directly. The second was when we added all the creator content. Now, as AI makes it easier to create and remix content, we're going to add yet another huge corpus of content on top of those. Recommendation systems that understand all of this content more deeply and can show you the right content to help you achieve your goals are going to be increasingly valuable." The long and short of it: That likely means more AI-generated content in your everyday life. Zuckerberg also touted how well Meta's AI social site, Vibes, was performing. "This quarter we also launched Vibes, which is the next generation of our AI creation tools and content experiences. Retention is looking good so far and its usage keeps growing quickly week over week. I'm looking forward to ramping up the growth of Vibes over the coming months," Zuckerberg said in the earnings call. "More broadly, I think that Vibes is an example of a new content type enabled by AI, and I think that there are more opportunities to build many more novel types of content ahead as well." It sure seems that Zuckerberg both believes in and enjoys AI-generated content. Mashable's review of the service, however, saw it as an "infinite slop machine." It can feel like endless eye candy, designed to grab your attention but not really do anything with it. So, according to Zuckerberg, expect more of that in your future.

Meta Is Adding More AI Slop to Your Feeds

Soon enough, it may be nearly impossible to tell whether the videos in our feeds are real or AI. I am extremely concerned about the prevalence of AI content on our social media feeds. Now that just about anyone can generate hyper-realistic videos with a simple text prompt, I fear that disinformation will rise exponentially, distorting worldviews faster than algorithms have so far been able to do. So you can imagine how I feel about Meta's plans to add a "huge corpus" of AI content to its feeds. Good luck out there, everyone. That's directly from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself. In a Meta Platforms, Inc. earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg confirmed the company's plans to add this self-described huge corpus of content, thanks to how easy AI makes it to create and "remix" content. People will create AI content, the platform's recommendation systems will deliver that content to people, who may then slightly alter that content and send it back into the Metaverse. As this feedback loop will continue, feeds will start filling up with more and more AI content. That's good for Meta, and anyone who enjoys watching videos that aren't real. For those of us a little sick of this content, or worried we won't be able to spot it during long scrolling session, it's only bad news. While much (if not most) of that AI content is likely coming from outside sources, like OpenAI's Sora, some of it may come from Meta itself. The company recently rolled out "Vibes," its own short-form AI video generator, as part of the existing Meta AI app. Users can create videos directly in Vibes, or remix existing videos. I'd wager some Vibes content is going to cross your Meta feed in the near future, if it hasn't already. Zuckerberg took the time to highlight how Meta's AI recommendation systems across all of its core products -- Facebook, Instagram, and Threads -- are delivering "higher quality and more relevant content" to users, especially with regards to video. Apparently, the amount of time we've spent watching Instagram reels has increased by more than 30% when compared to last year. (Fun fact: Reels brings in over $50 billion according to the earnings call.) That environment seems just right to foster a new wave of AI slop to Meta's enormous audience. Look, I've definitely laughed at some AI memes that have come my way. But to suggest that flooding the feeds with realistic AI videos without any regulation or forethought is a good idea is itself laughable. If you use Meta products, watch out: You might not be able to trust what you're watching is actually real for much longer -- if at all.

Zuckerberg declares the third era of social media will be run by AI

During Meta's Q3 2025 earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to integrate more AI-generated content into user feeds on Facebook and Instagram. The initiative aims to enhance engagement by prioritizing synthetic videos, images, and text through the new Vibes app. Zuckerberg described this development as the "third era" of social media. The first era centered on content shared by friends and family, establishing personal connections. The second era shifted focus to content from creators, expanding professional and entertainment offerings. In this third era, AI-generated content takes precedence, with algorithms designed to promote synthetic material deemed more engaging to users. Meta introduced the Vibes app to facilitate this change. The app enables users to create AI-generated content directly, including videos, images, and text. Once produced, this content integrates seamlessly across Meta's platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, allowing for broader sharing and visibility in feeds. The company reported a 26% revenue increase for the quarter, reaching $51.24 billion. This growth stems in part from AI enhancements in its core advertising business. AI tools optimize ad placements and targeting, contributing to higher efficiency and returns for advertisers on the platforms. Tech founders and executives have responded with mixed reactions to Meta's strategy. Some have criticized the heavy emphasis on AI-generated content, questioning its impact on authenticity and user trust. Others acknowledge the potential for innovation in content creation and platform dynamics. Meta continues to invest substantially in AI technologies to drive this evolution. The approach positions AI-generated elements as the primary content type in social media interactions, altering the balance from human-produced posts to algorithmically favored synthetic outputs.