On Thursday, stock in Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, cratered a stunning 26% in a single trading day. And last Monday, The New York Times announced it had purchased a quirky but addictive puzzle named Wordle for a sum in the “low seven figures.”
Those two developments are more related than they first seem.
Facebook has run into a world of hurt, some of which are problems of its own making, some of which flow from the actions of competitors, but most of which reflect the public’s growing unease with the idea of “neutral” platforms embracing none of the normal responsibilities of editors and publishers.
