Is Facebook Really On The Decline? Obviously not!

Since I started this blog, I’ve spoken quite a bit about the pros and cons of Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site.

Much of my discussion was inspired by speculation that many people are turning away from Facebook.  Some speculate that users are growing too concerned over their lack of privacy on the site, while others believe that the novelty of the site is simply wearing thin.

However, all those viewpoints and the whole concept of users ‘logging out’ seem to have been rebuffed this week.  That’s because Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that the Facebook mobile app is now installed on a billion smartphones. 

That’s right, Facebook now has one billion active monthly mobile users – crazy or what?

The fact that 1/7 of the world’s entire human population has downloaded the Facebook mobile application is amazing to me, and it obviously proves that people are definitely not turning away from the site.

This latest statistic was revealed at Facebook’s most recent conference, where the following information was also revealed:

  • The billion active monthly mobile users has increased from 945 million in December 2013.  That’s a massive increase in only 3 months!
  • Since Facebook acquired Instagram two years ago, the photo-sharing site has doubled its user base to 200 million users.
  • Facebook has a total of over 1.3 billion active monthly users.
  • Almost 760 million Facebook users log in to the site on a daily basis.
  • The average Facebook user spends 18 minutes on the site per visit.
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This chart shows Facebook’s incredible growth since its inception in 2004. Image sourced from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Facebook_popularity.PNG/1280px-Facebook_popularity.PNG

I have to be completely honest – these figures shocked me!  I own an iPhone so I use the Facebook application all the time, but the fact that I am just one out of a billion is incredible!  These statistics have truly shown me that Facebook is not just a social networking site any more – it’s an entire industry with massive turnover.

Those of us assuming that Facebook is on the decline are obviously wrong too.  I have noticed a lot of my Facebook friends using the site less and less, and some are even deactivating their accounts.  However, with an increase of 45 million active mobile users in the past three months, those deactivating their accounts are evidently a minority.  

And of course, Facebook more than dominates the social networking field in terms of users:

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This image shows Facebook’s popularity in comparison to its 8 nearest competitors. Please note this image is from November, so figures have increased since. Image sourced from: http://ollytracey.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/wpid-bjebky5ieaauklr.jpg

How crazy is that? Did you expect Facebook to have this many active users?

Chat soon,

Jamie

 

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