Chapter 255: Challengers are as numerous as carp crossing a river

"Does anyone know how many monthly active users Facebook has right now?"
Mark Burger, the man who single-handedly built a social media empire, posed this question to the executives in the conference room with an almost nonchalant tone.
The conference room fell into a deathly silence.
The group of smartly dressed executives were trembling with fear; no one dared to answer.
Because everyone present knew that the boss wasn't asking for a standard answer.
"Two billion," Burger answered himself, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Even after removing all duplicate and bot accounts, we still have a full two billion loyal users using Facebook and Instagram every day!"
This number was astronomical.
Calling it the undisputed hegemon of the global social networking field was no exaggeration.
But today, Burger clearly wasn't going to let them continue to bask in past glory.
"So, does anyone know how many users 'PicPic,' which has been online for less than a year, has now?"
This time, still no one answered.
But this silence wasn't due to tacit understanding, but because… they genuinely didn't know.
This thing is growing too fast, so fast that their intelligence reports can't keep up with the updates.
Markberg revealed the answer.
"Approximately three hundred million."
Two billion to three hundred million.
On paper, this seems like a battle of wits, with Facebook overwhelmingly superior.
"But! Ladies and gentlemen, this is absolutely not a number that allows us to rest easy! On the contrary, it's a doomsday alarm!"
Mark Berger abruptly changed the subject, slamming his hand heavily on the table as if sounding an alarm bell for everyone.
"In less than a year since its launch, it has ripped three hundred million users away right under our noses!
And what about us? Our Facebook and Instagram are seeing a visibly slowing, even stagnant, growth in new users!
The fresh blood that should have flowed to us has been swallowed whole by that picpic, leaving us with nothing!"
He suddenly raised his voice:
"Don't think that just because the market is ours now, it will always be ours.
Lying on your throne and snoring will eventually lead to someone taking the throne and taking you down!
A baby barely a year old has already surpassed 300 million users, and it's growing at an almost savage pace.
This is just the beginning!
We must take drastic measures! Otherwise, we're doomed!"
"But boss, this is a problem we need to be careful about..." an executive said cautiously, looking troubled.
"The reason we didn't nip it in the bud early on was partly because we genuinely underestimated it. Who could have imagined it would grow into this mess?
But the more important reason is... the company behind it is now a force that can shake up the global economy!"
Actually, there were people within Facebook who understood this.
When PicPic's so-called "AI algorithm short video" strategy was first unveiled, some saw its immense potential for viral spread and proposed a ruthless crackdown.
The problem is, the company that acquired and supported PicPic was none other than the infamous Fanghuan Investment!
Mentioning that name made the executives in attendance look constipated.
"Fanghuan Investment and Jiangjin Group are practically inseparable allies; that's no secret in the industry.
Not to mention, wasn't the global chip shortage a while back—a massive wave they orchestrated together?
Those two bastards teamed up, wreaking havoc in several markets, and then made a fortune!"
In today's business world, you might not know who the newly appointed governor is, but if you don't know "Fanghuan" and "Jiangjin," you're basically out of the loop.
Especially the name "Fanghuan Investment," which, in the past six months, has been relentlessly and terrifyingly ruthless, cutting down everything in its path!
This giant, which originally controlled the global shipping industry, used a single, decisive move to cripple TSMC, the king of chip manufacturing, directly triggering a global semiconductor supply chain crisis.
And the result?
The result was that companies like Facebook, heavily reliant on servers, suffered a devastating blow, as if their lifeline had been severed!
"Initially, everyone thought their goal was simply to devour the semiconductor market…
But when our servers crashed due to a lack of parts, when social networks worldwide were paralyzed, 'PicPic,' like a shark smelling blood, frantically devoured those homeless users!
Do you still think this is just a coincidence?"
"You mean… their ultimate goal is to destroy Facebook?"
Mark Berg's face was ashen.
"That's right! If the White House hadn't intervened, they could have driven our company to bankruptcy by blocking server chips!
Even so, our batch of goods didn't arrive until after PicPic was launched, a full month late!"
That precious month-long window was enough for PicPic to experience its initial, unbridled growth.
With no new content on any of the social media apps, bored users naturally sought new entertainment.
PicPic, this new product with its globally widespread marketing network, naturally took over everything.
Even worse, once users entered, they found the content surprisingly interesting, and thus, they couldn't leave.
Facebook, with its massive resources, managed to weather the server crisis.
But other small and medium-sized social media apps weren't so lucky; they were swept away by this wave and wiped out.
The disappearance of competitors is certainly a good thing, but watching them be devoured by a new overlord that is more ferocious, more greedy, and has locked itself in as the final prey from the very beginning is absolutely a terrible thing!
Since Facebook's ascension to the throne, challengers have come and gone like fish in a river, only to rise again and fall.
Each time, Mark Berger didn't even bother to lift an eyelid.
He firmly believed that no one on this planet could pull him off his throne.
But what is a permanent victor?
What is an undefeated champion?
Nokia, once the undisputed god of the mobile phone world, is now long gone.
Nothing is permanent, only a constant stream of new kings, stepping over the corpses of the old to climb to even greater heights.
To avoid being crushed by the wheels of time, one must treat the gap as a matter of life and death while it still exists!
Otherwise, before long, "PicPic" will become the new social media master, just as Fang Huan Investment hoped!