Mark Zuckerberg Calls Social Media on Phones ‘Anti-Social’, which is part of why he cares about Ray-Ban smart glasses

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent interview that the way people experience social media on smartphones can be “anti-social.”    David Zalubowski/AP

Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses are a wearable tech that can take photos and livestream.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said the social media experience on cellphones is “anti-social.”

The founder of the largest social media platform admits that social media, as most of us experience it — on a small, brightly lit phone — is actually quite “anti-social” and hopes that smart wearable tech will make it better.

In an interview on Tuesday with South Park Commons, a San Francisco-based tech community, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the way users experience social media on a small screen is limiting, which is part of the reason he’s pursuing the Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Meta, of course, owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads — major social media platforms that are often accessed via smartphones.

“When you’re building social apps, it’s kind of this weird thing that you primarily are delivering through this tiny little screen that people carry around,” Zuckerberg said. “It’s like a really, in some ways, anti-social form factor. It’s part of the reason why I care so much about glasses. It’s just such a more natural thing.”

Meta’s smart glasses, which were first announced in 2020, allow wearers to take photos, livestream on Instagram, and use the company’s AI assistant to ask questions, among other features.

The glasses are not equipped with augmented reality like the Meta Quest virtual reality headset, meaning users won’t see a virtual display pop up in their surrounding environment.

Still, Zuckerberg is convinced that the wearable tech will catch on.

In a recent interview with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Zuckerberg said he believes display-less AI glasses will be worn by millions of people.

“So I kind of think, based on what we’re seeing now with the Ray-Ban Metas, I would guess that display-less AI glasses at like the $300 point are going to be a really big product that, like tens of millions of people, or hundreds of millions of people eventually are going to have, and you’re going to have super interactive AI that you’re talking to,” he said.

A Meta spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.