News Traffic to Japanese websites from social media shrunk by up to 40%

According to an analysis by Nikkei, the internet traffic directed to Japanese websites from social media like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) has fallen by up to 40%, as social media platforms are corralling ever more users into their services and thereby reducing the visibility of posts and messages that contain links to external sites, to keep visitors on their services and make them more appealing to advertisers.

By confining users to their platforms, social media not only becomes more powerful but also starts to threaten the diversity of information in cyberspace. Sadly, that's something online forums have been experiencing ever since Google began devaluing forums in SERP some ten years ago. In April, New York-based media company BuzzFeed shuttered its news division, citing falling traffic from social media.

The analysis covered Japan's top 100 websites by traffic, based on data from site analysis company Similarweb. In September, total traffic to these sites was 13% higher than three years earlier, thanks to more users directed to the sites from search engines and online advertisements. Still, traffic from social media was down 16%. Traffic from Facebook plunged 41% over the period. Its parent, Meta Platforms, frequently tweaks its algorithms to determine the prominence of posts. Facebook is said to have given a particularly low priority to messages with links to news and other sites in May. In September, Meta announced a plan to discontinue the Facebook News feature on its social media app in several European countries this month.

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Acting as a hub for internet surfing, social media can change the flow of online traffic, with link algorithms determining the level of traffic to websites.

By category, review and reservation sites for restaurants and lodging facilities saw the sharpest decline, at just over 40%, in traffic from social media in September. Traffic to newspaper, magazine, television, and video streaming sites fell about 30%. By contrast, websites with a solid affinity for platforms' ad businesses surged, with visits to e-commerce sites rising 80% and those to communication and internet services sites up more than 20%.

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Paywall alert:

Freelancers are having a similar problem with marketing themselves on social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
The algorithms are optimised to encourage scrolling, so any posts that don't make an immediate impact quickly get buried. This turns advertising on social media into a popularity contest and an endless treadmill to produce 'content'.

Slightly off topic (maybe?), but I'm finding Japanese websites to be more and more difficult and user-unfriendly - the sites I tend to frequent (language and kanji oriented sites) have obtrusive pop-up ads, which require you to dismiss the ad before you continue browsing. Its just an annoyance that only happens the Japanese sites. If you are not careful, you will click on the ad instead of the "dismiss" button. I don't recall this kind of ad being so common, but it is an everyday occurrence now. This, and the overly busy, ad-heavy design of many Japanese sites are a drag.

Lothor said:

Freelancers are having a similar problem with marketing themselves on social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
The algorithms are optimised to encourage scrolling, so any posts that don't make an immediate impact quickly get buried. This turns advertising on social media into a popularity contest and an endless treadmill to produce 'content'.

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I guess word of mouth and repeat customers are your best bet. If I were looking for a service provider I'd probably check fiverr. They have a lot of people undercutting prices but some established people seem to be able to establish a reputation and charge more. I'm talking in general I don't know about your area.

Majestic said:

Slightly off topic (maybe?), but I'm finding Japanese websites to be more and more difficult and user-unfriendly - the sites I tend to frequent (language and kanji oriented sites) have obtrusive pop-up ads, which require you to dismiss the ad before you continue browsing. Its just an annoyance that only happens the Japanese sites. If you are not careful, you will click on the ad instead of the "dismiss" button. I don't recall this kind of ad being so common, but it is an everyday occurrence now. This, and the overly busy, ad-heavy design of many Japanese sites are a drag.

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Have you tried installing an ad blocker?

mdchachi said:

I guess word of mouth and repeat customers are your best bet. If I were looking for a service provider I'd probably check fiverr. They have a lot of people undercutting prices but some established people seem to be able to establish a reputation and charge more. I'm talking in general I don't know about your area.


Have you tried installing an ad blocker?

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Word of mouth and repeat customers are indeed my best bet. I've never used Fiverr, but the similar Upwork is impossible because of the enormous number of applicants for each freelance post and the extremely low rates offered by some freelancers. It's also feels a bit of a cesspit on the site with all its gamification: the opportunities to pay money for stars to prioritise your bid and to find out what others are bidding.

Lothor said:

Word of mouth and repeat customers are indeed my best bet. I've never used Fiverr, but the similar Upwork is impossible because of the enormous number of applicants for each freelance post and the extremely low rates offered by some freelancers. It's also feels a bit of a cesspit on the site with all its gamification: the opportunities to pay money for stars to prioritise your bid and to find out what others are bidding.

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I'm not very familiar with Upwork but it sounds like an opposite concept. On Fiverr the service providers put out their shingles so to speak and people with jobs have to contact providers individually.

mdchachi said:

I'm not very familiar with Upwork but it sounds like an opposite concept. On Fiverr the service providers put out their shingles so to speak and people with jobs have to contact providers individually.

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It goes both ways with Upwork. You can both bid on jobs and be approached by employers. There's a lot more of the former though!

mdchachi said:

If I were looking for a service provider I'd probably check fiverr.

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Anyone who is providing their services on fiverr or who is competing on fiverr to provide services on the cheap will never make a respectable living.

Anyone who is looking for a service provider on fiverr doesn't give a damn **** about quality and probably would just as soon outsource half of their staff's jobs to ChatGPT if they could.

People who have genuine skills and genuine contacts will market those skills. People who have a genuine interest in quality work and quality people will pay for that level of work.

Everyone else -- for better or for worse -- deserves what they get.