Facebook User Base Drops by 15 Million in the US

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Image Source: Hypebeast

The number of US citizens using online platforms, specifically FaceBook is surprisingly decreasing and numbers are verifying it. According to the Pew Research report and new survey data compiled by market research firm Edison Research, FaceBook users mostly (adults) are leaving the platform due to unwanted reasons.

The survey collected data of users in the US alone which is said to be Facebook’s lucrative market. They found that an estimated 15 million users are short on Facebook today than they did in 2017. This is a shocking find as the biggest drop was of teens.

FaceBookThan and Now – 2016 – 2019

On a broader perspective, the usage and growth of the social media platforms have seen steady progress in the US but now is slowing down gradually. The number of adults who claim to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest, have the same usage as was in 2016. Only Instagram stands out which shows an upwards shift during this time.

The data cannot be measured in some aspects where it cannot be concluded why people are departing from Facebook? Either they are aging on the geographic location or were not counted in the survey.

The survey conducted by Edison Research used randomized phone calls which were generalized to the entire US population, (he did not call millions of people for the sake of the survey). Looking at the most recent report, it would appear that Facebook is booming as the company reported a high global user base of 2.32 billion.

User’s Switching to other Social Media Platforms

The survey indicates that the social platform involved in harvesting data may have breached user trust, which ultimately had an adverse effect on most of its users that is why it is recommended to secure online data through privacy tools. There is another theory that users may not have left FaceBook entirely, instead have switched to Instagram with its scope and growth seen.

The photo-sharing platform whose sole purpose is to collect fewer personal information of users may be a less violating platform than Facebook which is now run mostly on ads and misuse of user informationand other content created to get more clicks for profits. By now Instagram has become the number one social media platform of the youth, while Snapchat falls second.

Instagram has over 1 billion users and more than 400million monthly users using the story feature, adapted/copied by Snapchat which is now a pillar for younger lads for social presence to engage and communicate. Facebook tried to revert Instagram users back to its app in an attempt to add stories in its Messenger app.

App Usage of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram

Some of the Facebook users tried to moderate their usage of the app such as checking the newsfeed once a day, deleting the app entirely from their phone or just taking a break. Then again, FaceBook is as active as it was in its early years. 74% of the Fb users visit the site daily regardless while half of them check it several times a day.

These stats are the same as it was reported in the Center’s 2018 social media use survey. Giant social media platform Snapchat and Instagram users, visit FaceBook website daily as well along with few more sites. At an estimate eight-in-ten, Snapchat users between the age of 18 to 29 (77%) claim they use the app every day while 68% say they use it multiple times.

The usage of Instagram has increased within the past few years, and more and more users are joining the age of sharing pictures in addition to new features.

Facebook’s web traffic is a cause of concern as it continues to slide and the website is losing its ad revenue; it further lost the title for the most visited site after Youtube. In the last two years, Facebook.com lost its traffic from 8.5 billion visits to 4.7 billion revealed by SimilarWeb.

In the limelight, YouTube’s traffic exceeded 4.5 billion visits last year continues to top FaceBook to come second after Goole as the most popular website worldwide. At first, it would sound that FaceBook is a sinking ship and at a certain extent it has affected the company. But FaceBook’s decline is only because of its app success on different devices; mobile being number one.

Where Does FaceBooks Fate Stand?

As far as Facebook is concerned, users will not stop using it. There may be times like today that the user base may decrease, but it will certainly not be the end of it. The competition between social media platforms is skyrocketing, and each platform is at the top of their game, but FaceBook needs to bounce back soon before users prefer not to come back to FaceBook.