SAN FRANCISCO: Meta's future may lie in the metaverse, but when the company reports results on Wednesday, investors will be focused on two more immediate bets: pumping up short-video offering Reels to compete with TikTok and rebuilding its ads system after Apple throttled access to user data.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg believes that will take time, and that the company needs to speed up the process, he told staffers on a call late last month. The discussion hit on key issues that will be watched in Meta's quarterly results release on Wednesday.
Meta is expected to record its first-ever revenue drop in its history as a public company, down 0.4% to about $29 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Investors are also bracing for flat user growth and a third consecutive quarter of profit declines and are watching for signs of hardware project cuts and slower hiring to manage costs.
The social media giant this year has unveiled sweeping redesigns of Facebook and Instagram, imitating rival TikTok's look and algorithmically driven recommendations of viral short videos.
Meta is also investing heavily to rebuild its ads system around its own user data, after privacy changes introduced last year by Apple degraded Meta's ad targeting capabilities.
Zuckerberg told employees on the call, which took place on June 30, that Reels represented a "huge opportunity" for Meta, but also noted that the format was "still only around 15% of the size of TikTok."
"I think realistically we're looking at a year and a half, maybe even longer, before we'll really have a line of sight to having a strong leadership position," he said.
The timeline for rebuilding the ads system was similar, he said. He repeatedly urged staff to increase their "intensity" to get through the period.
While Meta has the strongest first-party user data in the industry, it also "has a lot of credibility to restore before investors can get comfortable with maintaining its leadership position in digital advertising's secular growth," analysts from RBC Capital Markets wrote.
Zuckerberg told employees that the economy had worsened since executives first planned the Reels and ad changes, and outlined plans to expedite the transitions so profits from the core business could fund Meta's long-term metaverse bets.
"Our job is basically to bring in as much of the business that might be three years out into two years out, or one and a half years out, while also pushing on things like expenses and cost growth," he said.
If needed, he added, his inclination was to "take more pain in terms of a little bit less profitability" in the short term, rather than cutting back on "funding for future stuff."
The changes have created some backlash, though.
Instagram, which has been testing TikTok-like features, last week postponed plans to replace the app's scrolling feed with a more immersive "panavision"-style layout that fills the entire screen, from October to early next year.
A Meta spokesperson said the company recognizes "that changes to the app can be an adjustment, and we want to take the time to make sure we get this right."
On Monday, two of Instagram's biggest users, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, both shared a meme imploring the company to "Make Instagram Instagram again."
"Stop trying to be TikTok I just want to see cute photos of my friends," the post said. It signed off: "Sincerely, everyone."
Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged the criticism in a video on Tuesday, saying the layout was "not yet good" and the company would have to "get it to a good place if we're going to ship it" to all Instagram users.
The company would continue doing tests and shifting toward video however, he added.
As Zuckerberg bets on TikTok-style videos, Meta heads for first-ever revenue drop
https://arab.news/9bjgc
As Zuckerberg bets on TikTok-style videos, Meta heads for first-ever revenue drop
- Meta unveiled sweeping redesigns of Facebook and Instagram, imitating rival TikTok's look and algorithmically driven recommendations of viral short videos
From injury to influence: Khaled Olyan — the new voice of Arab football
- The Saudi social media star — TikTok’s Arab Creator of the Year — recounts how a setback ended his playing ambitions and pushed him to redirect his passion
- Known for memes and commentary that blend football, travel, culture and everyday life, Olyan is FIFA-accredited as a sport informant and covered AFCON 2025 in Morocco
LONDON: A broken dream launched Khaled Olyan’s unexpected rise as a Saudi social media star. Passion and perseverance took him from shattered ambitions to the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 in Morocco, where he surfed the hype while representing Arab culture.
“The journey began with a child who dreamed of becoming a football player to fulfill his own dreams and those of his family and community. After an injury ended that path, I didn’t break, I redirected my passion toward football media,” he said.
In an interview with Arab News, shortly after being crowned TikTok’s Arab Content Creator of the Year, Olyan — who has 13.2 million followers on that platform and 5 million on Instagram — credited his rise to “pure passion and honest content,” and said he had learned over time that “consistency matters more than fast virality.”
He added: “The turning point came when I realized that content can genuinely impact people, not just generate numbers or views. (Then I) stepped outside the traditional sports-content framework and linked football to culture, people, and place. It wasn’t a guaranteed path, but it shaped my identity today as a creator with a clear message and purpose.”
Olyan made history as the first regional creator to be accredited by FIFA as a ‘sport informant,’ a milestone that, he said, has given “local content global credibility and reach.”
Most recently, he was in Morocco to document AFCON, where he highlighted both the host country’s hospitality and the electric atmosphere in the grounds.
“It felt like a responsibility before it was an achievement,” he said. “I felt that my role went beyond coverage to building cultural bridges between people.”
Known for his memes and commentaries blending football, travel, culture and everyday life with feel-good humor, fans hail his “unmatched enthusiasm” and refer to him as “the voice of Saudi football fans.”
“Content today is no longer just entertainment,” he said. “It has become documentation of moments and an influence on collective awareness, especially in sports and culture across the Arab world. That (means there is) a much greater responsibility on everything I create.”
Saudi Arabia’s content-creator ecosystem has evolved dramatically in recent years, driven by a wider national transformation that has reshaped almost all aspects of public life, including sports and entertainment.
“The transformation has been rapid and significant, opening unprecedented opportunities for creators,” Olyan said. As the country moves “quickly toward global leadership in sports,” he added, it has also raised ambitions and created new routes for people to turn dreams into reality.
Across the region, the creator economy is booming, powered by a young audience, government investment and platforms such as TikTok. In 2025, the GCC alone was home to 263,000 social media influencers — a 75-percent increase in just two years according to data from Qoruz, an influencer-marketing intelligence platform.
Globally, fashion and entertainment dominate the influencer industry, but the GCC market has followed a slightly different trajectory. Lifestyle and travel also lead the charts, reflecting both regional affluence and a cultural emphasis on luxury, aesthetics, and experience-led content.
href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86?refer=embed">#خالد_العليان #المغرب #كاس_امم_افريقيا #هدايا #سحوبات ♬ original sound - KHALID ALOLYAN
While sport is not a major category, the research underscores what makes the GCC ecosystem distinctive: high digital penetration, brand-conscious audiences, and multilingual, multi-ethnic creators, with campaign planning often shaped by strategic decisions about language and identity.
Olyan said he sees many regional influencers following the same path as him — though not necessarily through sport. “I believe we are contributing to clearer roadmaps for anyone aiming for success through creative, values-driven content rooted in strong human principles,” he added. “Opportunities are abundant, but the real challenge lies in consistency and maintaining quality amid pressure and high expectations.”
For Olyan, Arab culture is not an add-on to, but the backbone of, his storytelling. He frames the region’s passion for football alongside questions of Arab identity, delivering it in an entertaining format that can travel beyond the usual language barriers.
“What makes sport special is that it’s a universal language. Many non-Arab audiences already follow my content daily, supported by AI tools. Arabic is my language and a core part of my identity, and I won’t change it. Instead, I’ll rely on smart translation tools and solutions to reach wider audiences.”
Olyan also noted that the region has long been framed through the narratives of people from elsewhere, often in ways that highlight only its darker corners.
“The Arab world is full of inspiring stories and a rich culture that deserves to be told through the eyes of its people, not only from the outside,” he said, adding that he hopes viewers value his videos for “changing their perspective and helped them see the truth more clearly.”
Olyan was crowned TikTok Arab Content Creator of the Year 2026 at a ceremony held in partnership with the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai.
He said the recognition was a result of more than just a run of viral moments, explaining that it came about “through structured, institutional work, team development, and linking content to long-term goals. Sustainability comes from creating moments and building value, not relying on trends or short-lived hype.”
Underscoring the double-edged nature of social media, Olyan argued that attention alone is not the point. “Real impact happens when content is used to educate and inspire people, not just capture their attention.”
He also expressed skepticism about banning under-16s from social media. Regulation matters, he said, but “awareness, smart supervision, and teaching safe usage matter more than complete bans.”
Creators, he added, are not immune to the platforms’ darker side. Psychological pressure, mental exhaustion, and long periods away from family due to frequent travel are part of the job. “I manage it through time organization, temporary breaks, and returning with renewed passion,” he explained.
href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86?refer=embed">#خالد_العليان #كاس_العرب #السعودية #المغرب ♬ original sound - KHALID ALOLYAN
Olyan is also the founder of the O15 Football Academy, a project rooted in his childhood dream and one he sees as part of a broader sporting movement gaining traction in the Kingdom. For him, the academy is not just about competition, but about giving children a supportive environment where sport becomes a formative social practice.
“As a child, I wished such an academy existed for me and my friends,” he said. “Many talents were playing in local neighborhoods without professional guidance or support, causing real potential to be lost due to the absence of proper training environments, follow-up, and opportunities. The environment was often challenging and unmotivating.”
His academy aims to identify talent early, develop it “scientifically,” and prepare players to compete at club and national levels, but Olyan added that even those who do not pursue the sport professionally can also benefit “educationally, culturally, and socially.”
Football, he said, is “a form of soft power that, by God’s will, can positively impact many aspects of life.”
Whether creating content or helping others pursue their sporting dreams, Olyan said his guiding principle comes from a line by the late Saudi politician and poet Ghazi Al-Qusaibi — a reminder that what you hope for in small measure can arrive, unexpectedly, in abundance: “You wish for a drop of good news, but God wishes to help you with rain.”
