Facebook Loses 1.4 Mln UK Visitors In Month
Numbers plummet in UK, US, Canada and Japan as experts say Facebook could ‘go the way of Myspace’
It is the world’s largest social networking site, used by children, parents and grandparents alike.
But Facebook’s popularity is dwindling dramatically, figures suggest, as it loses millions of users every month.
In Britain alone, 1.4million fewer users checked in to the site last month, an example of what is being described as ‘Facebook fatigue’
In the last six months, Facebook has lost nearly 9million monthly visitors in the US and 2million in the UK.
Experts say as new social media sites grow, Facebook’s users are deserting the network.
They say that figures aren’t helped by the lack of new Facebook members. It is believed that most people who want to sign up to the site have already done so.
New media specialist Ian Maude said the fall in numbers was due to ‘a boredom factor’
The problem is that, in the US and UK, most people who want to sign up for Facebook have already done it.
‘People like to try something new. Is Facebook going to go the way of Myspace?
‘The risk is relatively small, but that is not to say it isn’t there.’
Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg is said to be introducing new features in order to win members back.
The company is working to appeal to younger Smartphone users.
The most significant development is Facebook Home, software that can be downloaded on to certain Android phones to feed news and photos from friends – and advertising – directly to the owner’s locked home screen.
As well as switching off from the network, Facebook users are reported to be spending less time on the site.
The number of minutes spent on Facebook in the U.S has fallen.
The average dropped from 121 minutes in December 2012, to 115 minutes in February, according to comScore.
But Facebook explained that the time spent on its pages from those sitting in front of personal computers is declining rapidly because we are switching our screen time to smartphones and tablets.
Facebook is preparing to update investors on its performance in the first three months of the year.
And despite an overall drop in numbers, Facebook is growing in South America and India.
Monthly visitors in Brazil were up six per cent in the last month to 70million and India has seen a four per cent rise to 64m.
Alternative social networks such as Instagram, the photo sharing site that won 30million users in 18 months before Facebook acquired the business a year ago, have seen surges in popularity with younger age groups.
There has been a noticeable drop in the number of minutes spent on Facebook in the U.S. Facebook say this is because screen time is now spent on Smartphones and Tablets, rather than in front of a computer
Path, the mobile phone-based social network founded by former Facebook employee Dave Morin, which restricts its users to 150 friends, is gaining 1million.
According to Pivotal Research Group, advertising revenue could be up 49 per cent, driven by international expansion and the FBX advertising exchange, which uses Facebook to target advertising related to other websites surfers have visited.
