According to The Guardian, Facebook is losing users in the social media universe. Newer social media sites like Path and Instagram are taking over market share. Millions of users have left Facebook.
Some industry experts think the people who have interest in signing up for Facebook are already users so it may not be getting new users while people are going elsewhere.
Independent data reveals Facebook has lost millions of users per month. Facebook analysts forecast revenues up 36% from 2012, but studies suggest its market share in the United States, United Kingdom, and other European countries has risen to as high as it may go.
In March 2013, Facebook lost 6,000,000 visitors in theUnited States. This loss was a 4% decline, according to SocialBakers, an analysis firm. In theUnited Kingdom, 1,400,000 fewer users signed on in Mary 2013. This is a decline of 4.5%. The falls are sustained. In the last six months, about 9,000,000 monthly users left Facebook in theUnited States, and 2,000,000 left in the United Kingdom.
Facebook visitors are leaving in other countries such as Canada, Japan, Spain, Germany, and France. In these countries, Facebook has huge followers. When asked for comments, a spokeswoman for Facebook did not speak on the matter, according to The Guardian.
“The problem is that, in theUSandUK, most people who want to sign up for Facebook have already done it,” stated new media specialist Ian Maude at Enders Analysis to The Guardian.
Other social networks like Instagram, a photo sharing site, gained 30 million visitors in 18 months prior to Facebook buying the company in 2012. The photo sharing site has risen in popularity.
Path, a mobile phone-based social network founded by Dave Morin, a former Facebook employee, has gained in popularity. The company restricts its users to 150 friends. The company gained 1,000,000 users each week and has topped 9,000,000 users. There were 500,000 Venezuelans downloading the app in one weekend.
Facebook is still skyrocketing in popularity in some countries. For instance, in South America, monthly visitors inBrazilwent up by 6% in March 2013. According toSocialBakers,Indiahas seen an increase also. SocialBakers’ information is utilized by Facebook advertisers.Indiahas room for growth because only a fraction of the population is currently using Facebook.
Analysts at Jefferies see a decline in Facebook users at developed countries. Jeffries is a bank that has created an algorithm that interfaces with Facebook software directly. The algorithm reveals: “user levels in [the first quarter] may have declined from peak”, according to The Guardian.
Jefferies saw Facebook global user numbers rise in January 2013. However, it also saw those same numbers falling in February 2013.