Why You’re Spending More Time on Instagram and Facebook — Blame AI

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has credited artificial intelligence (AI) for increasing the time users are spending on Facebook and Instagram. Speaking during Meta’s Q2 2025 earnings call, he said that improvements in AI have made a big difference.

Zuckerberg explained that Meta’s AI is now much better at showing users content that they find useful and interesting. This smarter content recommendation has helped boost user engagement across Meta platforms.

He revealed that the time spent on Facebook grew by 5%, while Instagram saw a 6% rise in just the last quarter. This increase came directly from improved AI-driven recommendations.

Why You’re Spending More Time on Instagram and Facebook — Blame AI

Despite rising complaints from users about “AI slop”—a term used to describe poor-quality content generated by AI—Meta believes its systems are doing better. Instead of flooding platforms with low-quality content, Meta says AI is helping users connect with the right kind of content more quickly and easily.

Meta also reported strong user growth across its platforms. In June, over 3.4 billion people used at least one of Meta’s apps—Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp—every day. That’s a 6% increase compared to the same time last year.

This growing usage helped Meta earn $47.1 billion in total revenue from its family of apps in the second quarter. That’s a 22% jump year-over-year.

Another area where Meta saw growth was video. The company shared that the time spent watching videos increased by 20% over the past year. This was due to updates in Meta’s content ranking systems and efforts to promote more original content, especially on Instagram.

Meta also gave a small update on Threads, its alternative to X (formerly Twitter). The company said Threads is also benefiting from AI advancements. Time spent on the platform is going up, thanks to the use of large language models (LLMs), which help improve user experience.

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In simple terms, Meta is betting big on AI. The company believes that better AI tools are key to keeping users engaged. It is using AI not just to suggest content but also to make sure users find value in what they see.

While some people are worried about too much AI-generated content on social media, Meta’s results suggest that its smarter AI is improving the user experience rather than harming it.

To sum it up, Meta’s strong Q2 results were powered by AI improvements that helped increase user time on its platforms, grow daily user numbers, and drive up revenue. As AI continues to develop, Meta plans to keep improving how it connects users to the content they care about most.