Facebook is a platform with a huge fan base, yet it is also totally despised by some. Although the opinions differ, especially amongst generations, fact is that Facebook is currently by far the most popular social media platform. Presently, Facebook has 2,006 billion active monthly users, followed up by WhatsApp with 1,3 billion active monthly users. The next social media platform on the list is Instagram with ‘only’ 700 million active users (Richter, 2017). As one could see, Facebook is the front-runner in this race and its competitors are not even close.
But what if this run will not end as it is expected? What if the race is won by someone else? Especially amongst teenagers, Facebook is losing its ‘cool’ status whereby it is estimated that around a million teenagers per year are permanently leaving Facebook for other social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram (Lang, 2015). But what could be the reason for this loss of interest in this social media giant? The most probable cause is the adoption of Facebook by Babyboomers and Generation X; it is not popular to be on a social media platform together with your parents, or even grandparents (Kiss, 2013). One of the authors of Global Social Media Impact Study embraces this reasoning and states that receiving a friend request of one of your parents is the biggest incentive to leave the platform (Miller, 2013).
But is this all true? From my own experience, I can somewhat relate to the findings of the researches. I noticed I am also slowly moving towards other social media platforms, especially because of the posts on my Facebook wall by middle aged women. Don’t get me wrong, but I do not have to know how your day went with your grandchildren or have to see a huge congratulation picture with cats and dogs on my wall.
However, if the most important user base is slowly bailing on Facebook, could one say that this threatens Facebook’s future? Advertisers are mainly focusing on the generation that is leaving Facebook. For that reason, revenue-wise Facebook should be worried (Lapowsky, 2014). On the other hand, Facebook Inc. has acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, both platforms which are heavily used by the teenagers that are currently leaving Facebook. Therefore, one could say that Facebook is cannibalizing its own platform, but one should not speak of a ‘user outflow’.
Personally, I expect that Facebook will get it rather tough and will not be able to regain its ‘cool’ status amongst teenagers. Other social media platforms will achieve more engagement with these teenagers and Facebook will eventually be left with its heavy core users. However, this is still speculation and it remains unclear how Facebook will develop itself.
Sources:
Kiss, J. (2013, December 27). Teenagers migrate from Facebook as parents send them friend requests. Retrieved October 8, 2017, from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/27/facebook-dead-and-buried-to-teens-research-finds
Lang, N. (2015, February 21). Why teens are leaving Facebook: It’s ‘meaningless’. Retrieved October 8, 2017, from washingtonpost.com: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/02/21/why-teens-are-leaving-facebook-its-meaningless/?utm_term=.34edbf8cefac
Lapowsky, I. (2014, March 3). Why Teens Are the Most Elusive and Valuable Customers in Tech. Retrieved October 8, 2017, from inc.com: https://www.inc.com/issie-lapowsky/inside-massive-tech-land-grab-teenagers.html
Miller, D. (2013, December 20). Facebook’s so uncool, but it’s morphing into a different beast. Retrieved October 8, 2017, from theconversation.com: http://theconversation.com/facebooks-so-uncool-but-its-morphing-into-a-different-beast-21548
Richter, F. (2017, July 27). Facebook Inc. Dominates the Social Media Landscape. Retrieved October 8, 2017, from statista.com: https://www.statista.com/chart/5194/active-users-of-social-networks-and-messaging-services/
