Over the past month, there have been several national publications that have been reporting on the decline in user on the infamous social networking site Facebook. In response to the growing reports, Facebook released the following statement.
"From time to time, we see stories about Facebook losing users in some regions. Some of these reports use data extracted from our advertising tool, which provides broad estimates on the reach of Facebook ads and isn't designed to be a source of tracking the overall growth of Facebook. "
Recently, CNN interviewed social media expert and author Paul Gillin about the sudden decline in the social media outlet that has changed our lives more than we know. Gillin doesn't agree with Facebook's claim that these reports are inaccurate based off of their methodology stating,
"Facebook has never criticized the methodology before. The fact is that the methodology that was used to determine these numbers has been consistent and has shown about a 4% decline in U.S. membership over the last month."
So if not for the inaccurate methodology, and Facebook really is losing ground, what could be the possible factors?
College Graduates: Originally, Facebook was actually limited to college students. You needed an active college email address to become a member. College age students also now make up a vast majority of the active users on Facebook. So why would they delete their accounts? Graduation! Each year, Facebook experiences a loss of users due to the fact that students who are graduating college are on the job hunt, and don't want potential employers seeing pictures of them doing keg stands on the internet.Privacy and Bullying Concerns: There is a growing number of parents that are concerned with their children being on the internet and having pictures and tons of information about them out there for anyone to see. The trend has been parents refusing to let their children even be part of Facebook until they are of legal age. Bullying online has also become a growing concern for children and parents alike. Access to a child's interests and every move is perfect ammunition for bullies to hound and badger fellow classmates online.
Law of Diminishing Returns: Facebook has reached every nook and cranny of the world, especially the United States. Over half of the U.S. population has a Facebook account currently, meaning the room for growth has started to hit it's sealing meaning Facebook has had to focus on expanding overseas to other markets.
Spam: We all have experienced this in some way or another on Facebook. We don't want to see our friends high scores on Farmville or Mafia Wars 30 times in an hour. Facebook has started to implement privacy and publishing restrictions customizable by individual users as to what is posted on their wall or Status Feed to help reduce this, but it's inevitable to continue.
So our fellow Facebook junkies, what do you credit for the diminishing users on the world's #1 social media site?
