Facebook loses 6 million US users and 1.5 million Canadian LAST MONTH ALONE

[james t kirk]

New York – The social networking giant reportedly lost quite a few friends in May. Market saturation, or the beginning of the end?

Facebook may be nearing 700 million users with a $100-billion IPO on the horizon, but all may not be well in Zuckerberg land. According to Inside Facebook, the social networking giant lost nearly 6 million users in the United States in May, along with 1.52 million in Canada and hundreds of thousands in the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia. The company still managed to add 11.8 million new users worldwide last month, but its growth has been slowing significantly. What's happening? Here, four theories:

1. Facebook has made as many friends as it can
Mark Zuckerberg and Co. may be "hitting a saturation point in key markets," especially in the U.S., where roughly 50 percent of the population is already on Facebook, says Kent Bernhard Jr. at Portfolio. If that's the case, the social network might not be able to reach Zuckerberg's goal of 1 billion users without conquering China (and its strict online censorship).

2. People are sick of Facebook
"I think users are deleting their accounts because they... are burnt out," says Lindsay Mannering at The Stir. Even Bill Gates, a Zuckerberg friend and Facebook investor, recently quit the social networking site, saying his friend requests had gotten "out of hand." I don't blame him. "Between the feeds and the friends, it's too much... more of an obligation than a fun way to pass a few minutes." No wonder people are logging off for good.

3. This is just a temporary dip
"Seasonal changes like college graduations, and other short-term factors, can influence numbers month to month and obscure what's really happening," says Eric Eldon at Inside Facebook. These May figures are certainly intriguing, but let's not overreact. The long-term trends are the ones that really matter.

4. Other social networks are on the rise
It's "worth noting" that Twitter and LinkedIn are gaining in many of the areas that Facebook saw big losses — namely the U.S. Canada, and the United Kingdom, says Robin Wauters at TechCrunch. But let's not forget that "on a global level... Facebook is drawing more visitors than ever."

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[james t kirk]

I have deleted my account not for any of the above reasons, but because I think it's silly. Plus I like my privacy.

 

[TeasePlease]

Virtual friendships aren't fulfilling.

 

[mandrill]

It's hard to sustain interest once the novelty has worn off. I still keep in contact with my extended family on FB, but we are all posting far less often than we used to.

 

[GPIDEAL]

Can I de-friend? I find some people are abusing it (for business or advertising of their own thing). Also, some friends were never really friends but imported from my MSN or god knows where else. In other cases, I have 'friends' who are mini-celebrities and authors etc and wish to be connected.

Is it difficult to cancel your membership or account on FB?

A relative explained that she doesn't need new friends and has enough already. I think that's a good point too as it can get annoying.

 

[needinit]

I have an account but am visiting and posting far less often...so much of what people 9ie my friends) post is just crap they come across - quotes or images of nice paintings or game requests etc. not real content or news.

Works well if I want to catch up with a lot of people at once

 

[Dougal Short]

I've only been on it once. I opened an account, discovered that there wasn't any titties, and haven't been back since.

 

[TeasePlease]

Is it difficult to cancel your membership or account on FB?

Not difficult at all. Just go to "Account" ==> "Account Settings" and select Deactivate Account

 

[Tangwhich]

Not difficult at all. Just go to "Account" ==> "Account Settings" and select Deactivate Account

That's not deleting it.. it keeps all your info and you can restart at any time.
It is possible to actually delete your account, but you'll have to do a google search. I believe it's not simple.

 

[Scarey]

I closed my account to the best of my knowledge for a few reasons
a).It seemed too much work with all the crap i was being sent.
b).Alot of that crap that it said on my profile that i "liked"....I had never heard of.
c).I saw "The Social Network" and realized Mark Zuckenburgs goal for that site was to live vicariously through other people.A lonely social misfit with no people skills who had to run his"friend" tally up to make himself feel better about things.
d).alot of profiles are embellished.Pics are 10 years old or 60pds lighter.
e).10 per cent of the posts are intelligent.90 per cent are completely stupid.

I suspect they will trend down like disco in the next 5 years

 

[Guy number two]

The problem with Facebook is that the rush you got when you first signed on is gone. I remember how great all those friend requests were. Seeing all those old friends/schoolmates/co-workers again was great and very exciting. People were posting pics and you got to see some hotties in bikini's. Now people are lazy as hell and don't post anything other than farmville updates or lame happenings in their day, it's just boring as hell. The only reason I still hang on is for the hope that one say some hottie I know will take a trip to Cuba am maybe post some bikini pics for me to jerk off to.

 

[seymore]

I have a Facebook account but have no friends nor do I want any. I just opened the account to protect my name from poaching. I've done the same for LinkedIn and for my businesses.

 

[lamgos]

oh no, how is Zukenberg going to be able to pay the rent now

 

[someone]

I only joined FB a month ago and now I hear it is out of style, lol. Actually, I mainly joined because I got requests to give “likes” to things connected with work. However, I had hoped it would give me the opportunity to find out how people I knew years ago turned out. I did find out in a couple of cases but not as many of friends as I expected were on FB. Moreover, although it is interesting finding out how a friend from high school 30+ years ago turned out, once you find out that tends to be it.

 

[Moraff]

e).10 per cent of the posts are intelligent.90 per cent are completely stupid.

Are we talking about FB or TERB here?

I expect some of the people leaving are "fake" accounts that people create when playing the games in order to have controlled "help" in those games. I know a couple of games did a sweep last month to remove these types of players so that may be contributing to the loss of members.

 

[Mervyn]

This might be the reason imo

5.) People with multiple accounts

There are a large number of people on Facebook who have multiple accounts, usually to play a game or two, recently they have gotten sick of the game or have become bored with "maintaining" multiple accounts so they have deleted them.

I wouldn't be surprised if 25-30 % of facebook users are those who have more than one account.

 

[GG2]

I wouldn't be surprised if 25-30 % of facebook users are those who have more than one account.

Could be. I don't have any real Facebooks accounts, but I have 3 fake ones.

 

[capncrunch]

Used it to connect with some old buddies.

Grew immensely weary of "I need some brick for my farmhouse!" and other such bullshit.

Deleted it. Don't miss it one bit.

 

[Deviant]

I joined Facebook about a month ago, and now Hotmail is telling me about all the comments and other social stuff/activities on my facebook page, even though its non of their fucking business.

Also Imageshack knows about my Facebook page(fucking cookies) and wants to load the deviant pictures I am posting on Terb, onto facebook.

There was also another site that knew about my facebook page, but only when I was logged in.

My facebook page is none of these other sites fucking business.

All my different personna are now on a fucking colliision course, and I am pissed but impotent (figuratively).

 

[CapitalGuy]

Its great for keeping in touch with and especially sharing photos with family and close friends. Its moderately interesting for re-connecting with old friends and school mates (but I don't care about their kids or their social causes or, frankly, even the person. They are former friends, not current ones. I don't even know whether I'd still like them). But if you're over 25 and are broadcasting your emotions or your travels or your kid's soccer scores to hundreds of "friends", well that's kind of strange. Especially if you're a guy. Chat with the people who are still important in your life and with whom you have had a real-life relationship since reaching adulthood. Otherwise its just a game, and a game that probably reveals some kind of mental distress or loneliness (hmmm, maybe not unlike TERB!!). Lol.