Facebook Regains Popularity
Facebook: Quarter of global population used site daily in December
The number of people using Facebook daily grew to an average of two billion in December - about a quarter of the world's population.
The bigger-than-expected growth helped drive new optimism about the company, which has been under pressure as its costs rise and advertising sales slump.
Shares in parent company Meta surged more than 15% in after-hours trade as boss Mark Zuckerberg declared 2023 the "year of efficiency".
He said he was focused on cost cuts.
"We're in a different environment now," he said, pointing to the firm's revenue, which declined in 2022 for the first time in its history after years of double-digit growth.
"We don't anticipate that that's going to continue, but I also don't think it's going to go back to the way it was before."
Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, announced a major restructuring last year, including reducing office space and cutting 11,000 jobs or about 13% of staff.
The firm said those moves cost it $4.6bn last year - hitting its profits, which were almost cut in half. It still brought it in $23.2bn in profit for the year.
"2022 was a challenging year but I think we ended it having made good progress," Mr Zuckerberg said.
In the three months to December, the firm said revenue was $32.2bn, down 4% year-on-year.
But that was better than many analysts had expected.
Meta had alarmed investors last year when it posted the first-ever decline in daily Facebook users in its history and signalled it was focusing investments on virtual reality, known as the metaverse.
But in December, the number of users on the site daily was up 4% from a year earlier, adding users even in Europe and the US and Canada.
Meta said the number of people active across all of its apps each day was up 5% year-on-year.
Mr Zuckerberg said the company was making progress with its video product - Reels - which it has been focused on as it faces off with rivals such as TikTok, which have gained traction, especially among younger users.
Mr Zuckerberg said those efforts were starting to pay off, and ad dollars were starting to follow users to the videos.
Investors seized on the company's forecast of lower costs and stronger sales than expected in the months ahead, helping send shares higher.
The company also said it would spend an extra $40bn to buy back shares, which dropped sharply last year amid investor doubts about the direction of the company.
Find the words and expressions in the text, not necessarily highlighted in green, that can be translated into Spanish as the following. There is more than one way, so you could write down your initial ideas first as well as the expressions from the text.
- a diario
- una media de
- mayor de lo previsto
- infundir nuevo optimismo
- sometida a presión
- el desplome
- se dispararon
- centrado en
- señalando a
- disminuyeron
- el recorte
- plantilla
- medidas
- que afectó a sus beneficios
- un año difícil
- un 4% menos que en el mismo periodo del año anterior
- fue mejor de lo que esperaban muchos analistas
- registró el primer descenso
- había aumentado un 5% interanual
- ganado terreno
- empezando a dar sus frutos
- aprovecharon la previsión de la empresa
- en los próximos meses
- lo que contribuyó a la subida de las acciones
- cayeron bruscamente
Comments
1. a diario – diary – daily
2. una media de – x – an average of
3. mayor de lo previsto – more of – the bigger than expected growth
4. infundir nuevo optimismo – give more positive point – drive new optimism
5. sometida a presión – pressure – under pressure.
6. el desplome – Split – slump
7. se dispararon – trigger – surged
8. centrado en – focus on – ok
9. señalando a – point out - point to
10. disminuyeron – decrease –
11. el recorte – cut – reduccing
12. plantilla – shape – Jobs
13. medidas – those moves
14. que afectó a sus beneficios – affect his profits – hitting its profits
15. un año difícil – though year – challenging year
16. un 4% menos que en el mismo periodo del año anterior – 4% less than the previous year – down 4% year on year
17. fue mejor de lo que esperaban muchos analistas – better tan expected by many analyst – better tan many analyst had expected.
18. registró el primer descenso - register the first drop – fist ever decline in daily facebook users.
19. había aumentado un 5% interanual – increase a 5% beteewn years - was up 5% year on year.
20. ganado terreno – gained traction
21. empezando a dar sus frutos – start to give results - starting to pay off
22. aprovecharon la previsión de la empresa – take advantage of the Company – seized on the company´s forecast of
23. en los próximos meses – next moths – months ahead
24. lo que contribuyó a la subida de las acciones – increase the shares – helping send shares higer
25. cayeron bruscamente – dramatly drop – dropped sharply
On the contrary - many of your guesses are right. The main point of this exercise is to discover other ways of saying things. I've added some alternative suggestions.
1. a diario – diary😡 – daily😍 / on a daily basis / every (single) day
2. una media de – x – an average of 😍
3. mayor de lo previsto – more of (más de) – (the) bigger than expected😍 (growth) / larger than predicted
4. infundir nuevo optimismo – give more positive point😡 – drive new optimism😍 / give hope to
5. sometida a presión – (been) under pressure😍 / feeling the strain
6. el desplome – Split (= separated) – slump (v,n)😍 / a sudden downturn
7. se dispararon – trigger (provocar, desencadenar) – surged😍 / shot up
8. centrado en – focused on😍 / concentrated on
9. señalando a – point out (=highlight sth) - point to sth (as an example of / justification for sth)
10. disminuyeron – decreased😍 – declined / worsened / fell
11. el recorte – cutting😍 – reducing
12. plantilla – shape😡 (=forma) – jobs / staff
13. medidas – moves😍 / measures
14. que afectó a sus beneficios – affected his profits😍 – hitting its profits
15. un año difícil – tough year😍 – challenging year
16. un 4% menos que en el mismo periodo del año anterior – 4% less than the previous year 😍 – down 4% year on year / a fall of 4% compared to the same period last year
17. fue mejor de lo que esperaban muchos analistas – better than expected by many analysts😡 – better than many analysts had expected 😍 / ... had forecast
18. registró el primer descenso - registered the first drop😍 – posted the first ever decline / recorded the first ever fall
19. había aumentado un 5% interanual – increase a 5% betweeen years😡 - was up 5% year on year 😍 / had increased by 5% in a year
20. ganado terreno – gained traction (=became popular/accepted) 😍 / gained ground
21. empezando a dar sus frutos – starting to give results😍 - starting to pay off / beginning to bear fruit
22. aprovecharon la previsión de la empresa – took advantage of the Company (used to your benefit - can sound negative) – seized on the company´s forecast😍 (= used enthusiastically e.g. to illustrate what you've been saying)
23. en los próximos meses – next months😡 – in the months ahead / over the next few months
24. lo que contribuyó a la subida de las acciones – increase the shares – helping send shares higher😍 / which led to an increase in the share price
25. cayeron bruscamente – dropped dramatically
– dropped sharply😍 / plummeted
Una media de - an average of, a mean of / An average of
Mayor de lo previsto - higher than expected / Bigger-than-expected
Infundir nuevo optimismo - transmit new optimism / Drive new optimism
Sometida a presión - underpressure / Under pressure
El desplome - the fall, the drop / Slump
Se dispararon - / Surged
Centrado en - focused on / focused on
Señalando a - pointing at / Pointing to
Disminuyeron - decreased / declined
El recorte - the cut / cutting
Plantilla - template / staff
Medidas - meassures, actions / moves
Que afectó a sus beneficios - that afected his profits / Hitting its profits
Un año difícil - a hard hear, a difficult year, a tough year. / A challenging year
Un 4% menos que en el mismo periodo del año anterior - 4% lower than at the same period of last year / down 4% year-on-year
Fue mejor de lo que esperaban muchos analistas - better than expected / was better than many analysts had expected
Registró el primer descenso - first descense was registered / posted the first-ever declined
Había aumentado un 5% interanual - It had increase an interanual 5% / was up 5% year-on-year
Ganado terreno - gain land / gained traction
Empezando a dar sus frutos - starting seeing results / starting to pay off
Aprovecharon la previsión de la empresa - / seized on the company's forecast
En los próximos meses - in the next months / in the months ahead
Lo que contribuyó a la subida de las acciones - It helped the assets increase / helping send shares higher
Cayeron bruscamente - fell strongly / dropped sharply
Now and again, you could translate a text with Deepl and do the same sort of exercise yourself.
A diario - daily�� , every day�� / Daily
Una media de - an average of��, the mean of (mean refers to the average of a set of numbers) / An average of
Mayor de lo previsto - higher than expected�� / Bigger-than-expected��
Infundir nuevo optimismo - transmit new optimism�� / Drive new optimism��
Sometida a presión - underpressure / Under pressure��
El desplome - the fall, the drop / Slump�� (slump = huge fall)
Se dispararon - / Surged��
Centrado en - focused on / focused on��
Señalando a - pointing at��(= using your finger) / Pointing to�� (highlighting sth to demonstrate what your saying)
Disminuyeron - decreased�� / declined��
El recorte - the cut�� / cutting��
Plantilla - template�� (= a pattern, a model) / staff��
Medidas - meassures, actions�� / moves��
Que afectó a sus beneficios - that affected his profits�� / Hitting its profits��
Un año difícil - a hard year, a difficult year, a tough year �� / A challenging year��
Un 4% menos que en el mismo periodo del año anterior - 4% lower than the same period last year / down 4% year-on-year��
Fue mejor de lo que esperaban muchos analistas - better than expected / was better than many analysts had expected��
Registró el primer descenso - first desceent (= landing a plane or down a mountain) was registered/recorded / posted the first-ever decline��
Había aumentado un 5% interanual - It had increased by 5% in a year / was up 5% year-on-year ��
Ganado terreno - gained ground / gained traction��
Empezando a dar sus frutos - starting to see results�� / starting to pay off��
Aprovecharon la previsión de la empresa - / seized on the company's forecast��
En los próximos meses - in the next few months�� / in the months ahead��
Lo que contribuyó a la subida de las acciones - It helped the shares (to) increase / helping send shares higher�� / It lead to an increase in shares.
Cayeron bruscamente - fell strongly�� / dropped sharply�� / fell dramatically��
For some reason , the emoticons don't seem to appear in my comments. They are all happy faces except for one.
There is an angry face in the last sentence next to fell strongly - it isn't a collocation.
I've highlighted corrections and alternatives in bold as usual.
I never take what I hear in the news as fact. A big supply of salt is needed for all the pinching I do.