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Facebook users going down in US, Canada, UK, and more...

by Ralf Skirr
21 replies
Is Facebook overrated? Sure, it's the biggest social network worldwide, and it's still growing globally.

But in IMer's most important markets Facebook started to lose users.

The United States lost nearly 6 million users, falling from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at the end of it.
...
Canada also fell significantly, by 1.52 million down to 16.6 million.
...
The United Kingdom, Norway and Russia all posted losses of more than 100,000.
Source:
Facebook Sees Big Traffic Drops in US and Canada as It Nears 700 Million Users Worldwide

Just as with Google IMers seem to think Facebook will be the only relevant player for the next 100 years. IMers focus on Google and Facebook (and Twitter maybe) as if there wasn't anything else and if these companies can be expected to keep their market leading place for decades to come.

But we have seen others come up and go down.
  • Think Microsoft (look how their value remained steady for many years while other companies skyrocketed).
  • Think Yahoo.
  • Think MySpace.

Just 5 years from now Google, Facebook and Twitter may not have the impact they have today.
  • Startups may surprise us with new success stories.
  • Older competitors may gain more ground than we'd expect today. Think Bing, which is eating away market share from Google right now.
Losing a few Million users in the US may not be a big deal for Facebook, given that still half the population is using it.

But for me it's a reminder that things are always changing, and that the only internet real estate I have control over is my own web site.

Don't base your business on other people's website's, and distribute your promotional efforts widely, so your business won't suffer if one of the big players loses significance.

Ralf
#canada #facebook #users
  • Profile picture of the author Aussie_Al
    Nice find

    I was talking with a friend the other day and we were saying how inconceivable it was to us to have Facebook and Google fall in popularity

    But looking back on history Myspace trumped Friendster and Facebook beat Myspace - so it stands to reason something new may come along and do the same to Facebook

    Just as Google replaces Lycos and Alta Vista in a few short years as the Search Engine of choice
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    • Profile picture of the author Vanessa Reece
      Excellent post.

      Everything has it's 'time'. I don't even believe the stats to be honest. Tons of accounts that are the same people. And yes, drops may be due to FB deleting a lot. I know they've deleted a lot which were politically motivated in nature. Let's not even go there.

      I know I'm not on there half as much as I was as a business owner, unless I'm doing anything for my clients. Sure for personal use I still use it. I'm getting far more joy out of LinkedIn right now as a business owner.

      FB's issues: -
      1. Their advertising is not well thought out. Just because I mention 'God' in a comment doesn't mean to say I want three bible study offers to pop up on the right of the page. Now I'm one of those users who blocks out ads to the right of my page.
        If people do use it and get a return I'm happy for them. But personally it can be annoying as a user and its only suitable for certain niches. The novelty has worn off as seeing funny ads that make me click has worn off. Likewise in IM - I think once I clicked on a Frank Kern ad and the offer was good, but then after that all I saw was Frank's ads. It was a bit like seeing James Caan all over Google Ads. You become desensitised to it all very quickly.
      1. Facebook works for some businesses and not for others. People assume that their niche will be sitting on Facebook waiting. Whilst some niches may have heavy representation on Facebook some niches just don't use Facebook to have discussions. You also have the case in IM of over saturation now. It's very hard to stand out from the crowd on there because people can only/want join so many IM related pages.
      1. Facebook has an inability to run a major update without SHTF. It really is quite hilarious to see the Facebook Gurus say, 'wow this new feature is amazing.' one minute only to read them posting things like 'well it doesn't do this - let's hope Facebook fix it.' This not only annoys people like me but also developers who make apps that enhance Facebook. It's the apps that have really helped to make Facebook what it is and unstable updates don't really help.

      Their support system is not that great either. Has anyone ever got any joy out of it? :confused:

      Facebook won't fold tomorrow - but I agree that a newer, better social communication platform will be brought out. I'm thinking it will be more of a mobile app but that's me just reading into the mobile trend which I see picking up more and more. Sure you can get FB on your mobile - but it's not that great to use.

      I totally agree - spreading your marketing efforts around is the way to go. I have one client who gets way more activity on their Facebook than they do any other place - however their marketing is spread out so if for any reason their account gets shut down or whatever they've got other alternatives to connect with people and most importantly they've built the type of relationship with their FB fan base that they (the fans) will be ones who will post updates of where to find the client's new social basecamp if for any reason it was no longer on Facebook.

      V
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      • Profile picture of the author Aussie_Al
        Originally Posted by ITS-V View Post

        Excellent post.


        FB's issues: -
        1. Their advertising is not well thought out.
        Nice post - I have tried FB ads for a variety of my businesses - their CPC is not that low compared to ad words and I find the people who do click tend to be bored "tire kickers" as opposed to eager buyers with their credit cards out (like ad word ads)

        I have some fan pages up but they are almost after thoughts compared to other traffic streams for my sites
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        • Profile picture of the author Vanessa Reece
          Originally Posted by Aussie_Al View Post

          Nice post - I have tried FB ads for a variety of my businesses - their CPC is not that low compared to ad words and I find the people who do click tend to be bored "tire kickers" as opposed to eager buyers with their credit cards out (like ad word ads)

          I have some fan pages up but they are almost after thoughts compared to other traffic streams for my sites
          Thanks.

          Yep, you've kind of hit on my initial thoughts on them. I've tried it too and I'm not going to say it flat out didn't work because in fairness to FB I really didn't test it enough. But I'm also a consumer so I know there are moments when I tyre kick. :p

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  • Profile picture of the author Faidzal
    Yeah, I kinda agree with Aussie that something better must come out in order to replace them. But at the moment, haven't heard of anything competitive.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ralf Skirr
      Originally Posted by Faidzal View Post

      Yeah, I kinda agree with Aussie that something better must come out in order to replace them. But at the moment, haven't heard of anything competitive.
      I wonder if the only way Facebook or Google or Twitter could go down is if ONE bigger and better competitor is created???

      Right now Google is losing search volume to Bing. But Google is also losing search volume to Facebook, with people who don't bother to go to Google and just use Facebook search sometimes.

      What if SEVERAL competing solutions would eat away from the big guys slowly but steadily?

      • What if more and more businesses would switch from Facebook to Linkedin for their business activities? (as V. mentioned in her post)
      • What if Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga teamed up to create their own social network, and only their fans moved with them?
      • What if...?
      I'm not saying Facebook is dying, not at all. But I'm saying: we tend to project the future as extension of what we see today. But in reality it will be different, most likely VERY different.

      Ralf
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
    Originally Posted by Ralf Skirr View Post


    But for me it's a reminder that things are always changing, and that the only internet real estate I have control over is my own web site.

    Don't base your business on other people's website's, and distribute your promotional efforts widely, so your business won't suffer if one of the big players loses significance.

    Ralf
    This is a really important idea. When you are building a business for yourself online, but th eplace you are building it has other people's ads all over it and the owners can shut down your entire account for any reason they choose, you are in a very unstable place.

    FB works fine for extending your reach, or branding, or mindshare, but for sustaining a business, you really need your own site.

    I was thinking along these lines the other day when I came across somebody's amazon afiliate one product microblog and at the bottom of every page they had one of those social plugins.

    And I thought to myself, "Self, if the idea of this site is to make an affilate sale on Amazon, why is ths person providing outlinks that go somewhere else?"

    There might be an answer to that question that I don't know, but when I was thinking about it, I just could not come up with any other reason except that someone had convinced them that lots of people would want to be friends on Facebook with a site that sells lawnmower blades (made up example)

    I suspect that what most folks would want if they came to the lawnmower blade site, would be lawnmower blades, not much of anything else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Newman8r
    I'm not sure if they're actually losing "real members" - think they are deleting a TON of the bogus/spam profiles.

    That being said... new players will always pop up to take a little bit of market share
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    • Profile picture of the author DrewClement
      Originally Posted by Newman8r View Post

      I'm not sure if they're actually losing "real members" - think they are deleting a TON of the bogus/spam profiles.

      That being said... new players will always pop up to take a little bit of market share
      ^This.....
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  • Profile picture of the author sscot
    This is the nature (for everything). There's no anything eternal. But, it's difficult to think that FB will be down easily because it's perfect social network (Due to my personal view) when it compares with other social networks.
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  • Profile picture of the author flocon
    I have read a post about facebook loosing some users today. I wonder if there are social networks that took advantages of this decline in terms of added users.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Cole
    I think it points to the need for diversification in your marketing.

    What's at the core of your Facebook marketing? Fresh Leads!! Every day you need new fresh targeted leads. Where can you get them? How can you get them?

    The mind boggles, just how many ways are there to get new leads? It doesn't matter, pick one, get good at it, keep doing it, pick another, get good at it, keep doing it, pick another.... Say a new marketer got started when MySpace was king and through great good fortune he found the right information quickly and started making a killing. His mentor tells him great, keep doing it and find another income stream. "Pfftt, I'm making more in a week than I make in a month at my day job, I'm good."

    Things go good for a while and then start to slip a bit. No big deal, it's just a slump, right? The slump turns into a slide and the brand new guy that made a killing right out of the gate sees his income cut in half. Old story, turns into the next story, with a different site.

    I agree with Newman8r, Facebook probably didn't lose a single real member, only a lot of bogus Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton pages.

    Right now, Facebook is on top. Make use of it if you can, while you can, but remember, the wheel keeps turning, what's on top sooner or later gets rolled over. While you're making a killing in one place, Facebook, Twitter, or (????) don't forget to keep looking for new, fresh sources of leads, what's the worse that could happen, you get too many leads?
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas Michal
    Funny you posted this I know like 7 or 8 people who recently deleted their facebook accounts last week.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tarik93
    wow that's surprising...i guess there really is a cycle here haha.
    3-4 years time maybe something better will be available
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    • Profile picture of the author Ralf Skirr
      Originally Posted by Tarik93 View Post

      wow that's surprising...i guess there really is a cycle here haha.
      3-4 years time maybe something better will be available
      The word 'cycle' gave me the idea to look at Google trends. Results in screenshot below for US searches. Lol, having a free day, too much time on my hands...

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  • Profile picture of the author entrepreneurjay
    Well said Ralf I do think Facebook will be a major player at least for the next 3-5 years you are dead on. Never leave all your eggs in one basket diversity is the key.

    Glad to hear Bing is gaining even more market share. Google needs some competition badly.
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  • Profile picture of the author chimehost
    Few reasons why more users will be turning off their Facebook account -

    Facebook spy vs. spy double-sting custody battle - Computerworld Blogs

    Privacy groups urge investigation of Facebook facial recognition tool - Post Tech - The Washington Post

    Social networking's instant intimacy can ruin lives, experts warn - chicagotribune.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Loop
    Originally Posted by Ralf Skirr View Post


    Don't base your business on other people's website's, and distribute your promotional efforts widely, so your business won't suffer if one of the big players loses significance.

    Ralf
    Exactly... The truth is, internet users are fickle. They don't commit to stuff for too long before they're looking for something else. I will say, unlike its predecessors, Facebook has positioned itself very well for the long-term.
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  • Profile picture of the author gie grace
    Great post, Ralf!

    Sometimes, we tend to be so focused on the present that we forget to see the big picture. We forget that what may work now will not work in 5 years' time, what may be popular now may be regarded as ancient in a few years' time. It's not a FAD, it's just a TREND.

    Much like the boom-bust cycle of our financial market, there are trends in whatever market/niche. As online entrepreneurs, we need to keep an eye out for things like this.
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  • Profile picture of the author bcagle
    You are so right. I think facebook, especially, is getting so overrun by people only there to sell that people are getting fed up with it. It was supposed to be to connect with friends and family, not salespersons necessarily.

    Technology, like everything else is cyclic. It has cycles of life from invention or birth, through death and / or reinvention.

    I for one am trying to look to what is on the horizon. I am already using things like QR codes, and am working on video podcasting and other things I can do to tap into the growing new technology. I can see a decline in the use of the internet over the past several years.

    Remember the .com explosion, and implosion. I think we need to look for the innovators, or become the innovators if we are going to grow and survive online over then next decade.

    Just my thoughts.
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  • Profile picture of the author leedev
    So which Socal Networks are best choices right now to use for product sales?

    What about Squidoo for example? Nobody mentioned them, but one of the attractions is that Google loves Squidoo (at lease to my data so far)

    Me thinks the old adage about eggs and one basket still holds true today.
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