Commentary

Facebook Fatigue

People are leaving Facebook. Inside Facebook recently reported reputable statistics demonstrating a decline in the number of 18- to 44-year-old active users in the U.S. in June -- particularly 26 to 34 year olds. And they don't think it's a hiccup. "In the years we've been tracking the demographic data, we've rarely seen a dip like this, so we would tend to favor the idea of a root cause." One reason for the behavior change: privacy. The blog explained, "The age groups that logged a loss in June is also the one most likely to have paid attention to the privacy debates."

In mid-May, amNew York, a nearly ubiquitous free paper on the NYC commuter circuit, was headlined " Unfriending Facebook." One of the most-emailed stories in The New York Times was about an up-and-coming Facebook alternative. These are just two of the thousands written on the subject. Then came a rash of stories about whether the privacy upheaval actually inspired anyone to close their accounts. Privacy may be the most sellable and sensational anti-Facebook rally call -- especially given the CEO Mark Zuckerberg's epithet for people who trust him -- but I doubt it's the primary reason people are leaving Facebook.

The truth is, Facebook isn't fun to use anymore. It's become a chore, just one more place that busy people have to log in to stay up-to-date. And Facebook is making the goal of staying up-to-date harder and harder to achieve. There are so many apps like Farmville producing status updates as well as people using Facebook as their repository for passing thoughts and private/public conversations, I have to sort through tons of what I don't want to read before I get to something I want or need to know.

One commenter from Inside Facebook echoes my sentiment. Rodney Payne, a founder of Think! Social Media, wrote, "Personally, the newsfeeds I'm seeing are becoming less and less relevant. The changes made back in December 09 to reduce spammy applications have seem to have given way to spammy Fan Pages."

The original value of Facebook was this: an easy, aggregated way to stay connected with friends. What made so many people want to join was the chance to look at other people's photos and keep up with their major life events like birthdays. Today, with so much spam, it's not an effective tool for its original use case.

Here's the default view of my "Most Recent" news feed...

My top two stories: Two people became friends with other people. Next, someone is sharing an article with me from The New York Times. The next two are more people who became friends with other people. Four of the first five updates are information I don't need or want to know. Then there's a short status update from someone mentioning something mundane in their daily life. Next, someone's participating in a live chat. Then I see that one friend is sending a message to another friend saying, "I like your new haircut." Next, someone is now friends with four other people. The next one is a promo for a party where they're giving out free drinks. The next one is a status update about the weather. Then I see that someone likes two other people's posts. And someone likes a band. And someone posted an iPhone-taken photo of the Empire State Building. This will only get worse if the "Like" button becomes more pervasive and also updates my feed. Thank god none of my friends use "Mafia Wars" -- I really don't want updates about the latest mob hits.

Why would anyone ever log in to this? There's a barrage of stuff that's not that relevant or interesting, and yet totally distracting -- and it's pushing any want-to-know and need-to-know information down and off the page.

You could be thinking that the solution to my problem is "Top News." But no. Facebook hasn't yet figured out what I consider to be my top news. Instead of presenting me with user-friendly and effective filtering options, Facebook is asking me to hunt for the needle in the haystack -- in short, turning me into the search engine that they're lacking. With Google's left side bar that helps filter search results and Bing being billed as the "decision" engine, it's striking that most of the innovation in and around Facebook focuses on putting more and more into my already cluttered feed.

User research shows that people are going back to email to keep up with friends because of the spam. People want the experience Facebook used to provide but no longer does -- a pure, simple way of keeping up with friends.

As Facebook moves further away from its original use-case as a pure, simple way to connect with friends, it will be more and more vulnerable to Facebook alternatives like Formspring.me, Collegiate Nation and Diaspora -- which, by the way, has attracted mega micro-investment attention.

16 comments about "Facebook Fatigue".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, July 19, 2010 at 8:29 a.m.

    Geez, prune your friend list once in a while. Use the Hide button on those you don't want to unfriend but don't want to read, if you're so bored. And unfriend the repeat offenders.

    You trim your landscaping once in a while. You trim your body hair periodically. Why not trim the irritating bather from your Wall? Or is that just too much trouble? I love my friends but it doesn't hurt to rotate their visibility to keep the feed from getting stale. Facebook is like any relationship: It takes some effort on your part.

  2. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, July 19, 2010 at 8:30 a.m.

    The word "blather" (below) makes so much more sense than "bather"

  3. Harold Cabezas from Cabezas Communications, July 19, 2010 at 9:48 a.m.

    Good comment, Douglas!

    The truth is, most people don't want to do those things, perhaps accustomed to the 'real/analog' world where if you don't want to see someone you just stop talking to them.

    I agree with your premise, but also am realistic in thinking that most people don't want to tinker with privacy controls for day to day communication. Just a thought...

  4. George Simpson from George H. Simpson Communications, July 19, 2010 at 10:15 a.m.

    Good post. When my 19 year old says he is leaving Facebook (which he did about three weeks ago) it is no small matter - as Arron points out.

  5. Renee Mcgivern from Spark Plug Consulting, July 19, 2010 at 10:18 a.m.

    I've started reconsidering my Facebook use as well. What really is it contributing to my life or relationships? A lot of my Baby Boomer friends aren't using it well, posting dumb things they wouldn't talk about if we sat down over coffee. I'm hiding them and questioning now whether I even want some of them to be an "in person" friend; we are clearly incompatible.

  6. Wendy Jameson from ColnaTec, July 19, 2010 at 10:44 a.m.

    Facebook has become Twitter. Or at least people have begun using it like Twitter. People always asked me why I use both, and it's because of what you describe. I have tools for Twitter that help me sort out the blather, but I'm stuck with the format that Facebook provides me. I use Hide for all the apps, and I keep my friends to just my real-life friends, but there's still more junk than I care to read, making the updates I want to see that much harder to access. I don't think FB has become irrelevant or unusable, but there could be better ways to see only what you want to see, more quickly and efficiently.

  7. Chris Stinson from Non-Given, July 19, 2010 at 10:55 a.m.

    Most of facebooks recent changes has been to the benifit of the marketers and advertisers and not the users. It has moved from being a neighborhood block party to a giant flea market.

  8. Mike Einstein from the Brothers Einstein, July 19, 2010 at 1:08 p.m.

    Surprise, surprise! Human nature rears its head once again to spit in the face of marketers who should know better (IAB take note). The truth is we just don't want to open up to the world. Indeed, we fear the world. That's why we build fences around our homes. That's why we have home security systems and car alarms. That's why we have call blocking and caller ID. That's why we spend more money on anti-spam software than we spend on our computers. That's why we tune out whenever possible. That's why we move away from home the first chance we get. That's why gun sales are through the roof!

    Our anti-social behavior continues to grow while the fields of Framville go fallow. And Douglas, under the right circumstannces, I'd much prefer a bather to the blather!

  9. Ellen Scordato from The Stonesong Press, LLC, July 19, 2010 at 3:42 p.m.

    "User research shows that people are going back to email to keep up with friends because of the spam. People want the experience Facebook used to provide but no longer does -- a pure, simple way of keeping up with friends."

    But there is no way for Mark Zuckerman to make money off a "pure, simple way of keeping up with friends"; the only way to fund expensive and expanding communication networks is to monetize them.

    Who would pay for Facebook if it was only for keeping up with friends? And more important, who would pay the bills to keep Facebook open for that?

  10. Keila Morse, July 19, 2010 at 7:06 p.m.

    Facebook can be useful, even enjoyable but everyone needs to think twice before posting 'what they had for b'fast' or 'that their baby has colic'. Think about your post BEFORE you post it and ask yourself, "Would this be interesting to ME if I wasn't posting it? Is there any benefit of my post to anyone besides ME?" If the answer is NO to either or both, don't post it or you'll eventually be 'hidden' or 'unfriended'.

  11. Eric Steckel from Turnpike Digital, July 19, 2010 at 7:55 p.m.

    I really think the big issue for many is privacy, plain and simple. I don't agree with Mark Zuckerberg's take on privacy and nothing he says about a change in societal opinions of privacy can change that. I don't necessarily think it will be Facebook's downfall, but it has to be taken into consideration as I believe the numbers quoted in the article are largely a result of people saying "No" to Mark.

    Now, as for how to weed out Farmville- Any suggestions? I figured it out on my iPhone app but haven't figured it out in the browser.

  12. Anne Peterson from Idaho Public Televsion, July 20, 2010 at 12:12 p.m.

    Agree with Douglas. I try to hold my number of contacts down on my personal Facebook page. My friends are all people I know, have a personal connection to and a reason to be in touch with — and they are people I enjoy.

    If I get too much of Farmville (only about three people on my list indulge), I try to sell them one of my real live horses. (So far they have refused.)

    And if I ever have an "irritating bather," he or she comes right off the wall.

  13. Steve Latham from Encore Media Metrics, July 20, 2010 at 3:12 p.m.

    I don't think anyone questions the value of facebook as it relates to reconnecting and staying up to date with friends (even if you're too busy to actually stay in touch). But I do find myself spending less time on it these days.

    Teens are leaving FB because it's not perceived to be as fun or relevant as it used to be. Their natural ADD is kicking in and they need new stimulation.

    Adult attrition may be due to privacy concerns... or simply due to the fact that once the novelty wears off, we remember that we have limited time and energy, and many competing priorities.

    All that said, I strongly believe facebook will outlast Twitter :-)

  14. Leonard Sipes from Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, July 21, 2010 at 9:28 a.m.

    Friends-yes. Marketing-no. For many of us Facebook does not drive traffic to our sites. This will vary from topic to topic but Facebook for many of us is a waste of time; all effort, no gain.
    Facebook was recently cited as having among the lowest numbers for customer satisfaction. It's a confusing platform.
    But my wife loves it and so do her friends and family.
    Len.

  15. Marston Gould from Classmates, July 21, 2010 at 12:17 p.m.

    The certainly am not surprised by the Facebook fade. There are likely two important reasons for this. First - Facebook, like most social networks, probably has a very large portion of its population that primarily consumes content and a significant portion that only participate sparingly. This means that the vast majority of people are living vicariously through only a small number of their friends. Not unlike other forms of media - even when it comes from our friends - at some point, our attention deficit disordered society grows bored of what they view as irrelevant status updates. Now, layer on the growing commercialism of Facebook and you are just asking for people to turn the dial.

    I just returned from a 2+ week vacation in Italy and what amazed me the most was the lack of gross commercialism. Not a billboard in site - even on the high ways. And virtually no signage other than the name of stores/restaurants (sometimes) above the entrance.

    We have created a reinforcing loop where people are looking for deeper meaning and relevance and yet ended up with the exact opposite. This is a trend that Facebook will have to spend some serious effort trying to correct or they are going to be in serious trouble in 5 years.

  16. Kristin Warner from FirePath Communications, July 21, 2010 at 2:14 p.m.

    Very interesting stat. I agree that Facebook is becoming very cluttered. And when communities become cluttered with crap, consumers migrate elsewhere. I think the clutter is a byproduct of Facebook's quest to generate real, tangible revenue in their business model. I will say though, that once Facebook identifies a weakness, they are pretty quick to remedy it. So should be interesting to see if the devolve back to a simpler interface at some point.

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