Facebook User Numbers Peak -- and Decline?
Another day, another column about Facebook, whose stock price just keeps going lower -- $28.26 at the time of writing, down 26% from the IPO price of $38. And it turns out the stock price isn’t the only thing falling: a look at comScore numbers from the last couple years suggests that Facebook’s growth in the U.S. may well have peaked over the last year, and might even be declining.
Okay, so the picture isn’t quite so alarming if you look at the full-year results for 2011 and 2012 thus far. Facebook averaged 161.1 million unique U.S. visitors per month in the first four months of 2012, according to comScore, up 1.2% from 159.2 million unique visitors per month for all of 2011. But focusing on the second half of last year a different picture emerges, as the number of average monthly unique U.S. visitors actually fell from 163.7 million in July-December 2012 to 161.1 million in the first four months of 2012 -- a 1.6% decline.
That’s not a huge falloff, by any means, and Facebook has seen month-to-month fluctuations in unique visitors before. But before those were mostly monthly one-offs, which disappeared when averaged with other months; the most recent downward trend may be more significant, as it is taking place over longer periods of time.
It’s also harder to attribute this decline to seasonality than previous fluctuations. Indeed, this is the first time Facebook didn’t experience growth in the first four months of the new year compared to the second half of the prior year. Previously, average monthly unique visitors increased from 149.8 million in the second half of 2010 to 152.5 million in the first four months of 2011, and from 98 million in the second half of 2009 to 115.6 million in the first four months of 2010.
Recent Social Media & Marketing Daily Articles
-
SF Giants Open Social Media Cafe June 19, 5:15 p.m.
Social media and spectator sports are a match made in heaven, what with all the stats ...
-
Social Media Boosted Organ Donor Registrations 2000% June 18, 4:03 p.m.
One of the common criticisms of social media activism is that it people’s interest in causes ...
-
Turkey Targets Social Media "Provocateurs" June 17, 1:42 p.m.
There’s a long and inglorious history of authoritarian governments targeting vaguely-defined “provocateurs” for exercising their right ...
-
SocialTwist Analyzes Influencers June 14, 1:44 p.m.
One of the main advantages of social media, from a marketing perspective at least, is that ...
-
LGBT Adults Use Social Networks More June 13, 6:27 p.m.
It’s no secret Americans have taken to social networking in a big way, and lesbian, gay, ...
-
Over Half of U.S. Social Media Users "Like" Brands June 12, 5:11 p.m.
Most Americans who use social media have “liked” a brand on social media, with 57% affirming ...
-
Surprise: Social Media Use Associated With Narcissism, Other Great Qualities June 11, 4:36 p.m.
Narcissism, feelings of superiority, and vanity are all innate characteristics of humanity, but social media may ...
-
Social Media Dominates Smartphone, Tablet Usage June 10, 5:17 p.m.
Social media accounts for roughly a third of the time Americans spend on smartphones, and also ...
-
Employees Say Social Media Increases Productivity June 7, 4:34 p.m.
Contrary to the fears of neurotic bosses, social media access in the workplace actually increases productivity, ...
-
Social Media Has Cost One in Ten Young Adults a Job June 6, 12:29 p.m.
Social media norms are still evolving, and eventually people will probably wise up about what they ...
2 comments on "Facebook User Numbers Peak -- and Decline?".
Leave a Comment