Stopped using Twitter and reddit the second I realised this. Infuriating subterfuge just to put some inflated engagement metric in their decks.
It’s like a furniture shop advertising a “going out of business” sale or a shepherd boy crying wolf twice.
People wise up to this and become more open to alternatives.
Surely, even VCs and investors know not to take DAUs and MAUs and click rates at face value. Who are these companies trying to con?
The stock market.
VCs are looking at these metrics not just as indicators of company's health and growth trajectory, but also, at the later stage, as indicators of the company's ability to generate returns - which often involve the company being acquired or going public.