The first Facebook users, who drove the worldwide success it is today, are reportedly turning their backs on the social network (TrendStream, Global Web Index, B&T 16/08/11) .
The major global research study has found that US college graduates are showing signs of Facebook fatigue and using it less often in certain areas.
While total usage of Facebook continues to grow due to its popularity in emerging markets, in developed economies such as the US, UK and Canada there have been significant declines in terms of active participation with the site such as status updates, sharing content, messaging and installing applications.
The Global Web Index which looks at the way consumers use the internet based on 100,000 interviews in 27 key markets found that in the US in June of this year, the number of people that messaged friends and joined a group in the last month was down 15% and 10% respectively since the first wave of research in July 2009. This trend was even more pronounced with the under 30 US college graduates – the first group that ever used the social network.
Microblogging and social networking are the fastest growing social media activities, up 62% and 40% from July 2009 to June 2011 respectively, spurred on by increased use of mobile, according to the research.
I think the data over the next 12 months and the take up or adoption of Google+ will offer a more definitive understanding of this data. The current changes to FB are part of the product evolution, no different to the product improvement we see in other categories or products.
The innovators and early adopters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_adoption_lifecycle) will welcome the change (if they have not already jumped ship to Google+), how long will it be until the old FB is forgotten and we accept the features as the norm? I look forward to seeing how long it takes the majority of the population to accept the new changes? Is there a predetermined model for adoption in the social media space?
One thing is for certain, anyone outside of an innovator or early adopter find it hard to accept change... http://socialmediafun-daiz.blogspot.com/search/label/Facebook
I think fragmentation of the entire SM market has certainly added to the difficulties that FB faces. With so many SM sites that each offer something unique, people tend to now have multiple SM accounts on various platforms. This provides the consumer with the ability to generate content in a way they see most appropriate to each site. Example is what we do. We use Yammer, wikis and blogs for educational purposes, G+ and FB for socialising, product review sites to get info on future purposes. I have definitely found myself doing that. I no longer use just FB for everything. I have on a number of occasions in the past asked for opinions on products on FB whereas now, having more knowledge on a variety of sites, I will hardly turn to FB for product reviews any more.
ReplyDeleteRoss
I'm certainly using FB a lot less this year than I have previously. But my SM use has increased. As @Ross suggests, SM fragmentation is the cause.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't life be easier if there was only one SNS for everyone! :)