- Global Facebook interest has declined by almost 90% within 10 years
- CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes the social networking firm is losing youths’ interest to its competitor platform TikTok
A recent Banklesstimes.com data presentation has revealed a massive decline in the search volume for the term Facebook(FB). The site’s analysis indicates that the term’s search intensity has dipped by 87% in the last decade. The waning interest in global FB searches is indicative of a growing disinterest in the social media site.
The problem has been exacerbated by FB losing traction with the youth despite rebranding to Meta. Market data shows that it’s struggling to attract users under 30 years. And the stakes are relatively high as upcoming competitors join the market.
The world’s largest social network initially began as a networking site for university students. Now analysts believe that the aging up of the app’s audience, which stands at about 2 billion daily users, could alienate young people further. The issue could cut off future generations and put a ceiling on future growth.
Facebook users declined to 1.93 billion daily users in Q3 2021, and the figure further fell to 1.929 billion in Q4.
TikTok Reigns Supreme
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds that the company is losing its users because of the TikTok boom.
TikTok is currently leading in the short-form user-generated video market. Meta has also been offering Reels on Instagram, but they have not leveled up to Tiktok’s engagements. Facebook also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.
According to Zuckerberg, the firm is working to introduce its short video product to try and outdo TikTok.
Apple’s ATT iPhone Privacy Features
Another source of Facebook’s woes is Apple’s “app-tracking transparency” (ATT) feature. This feature was born in 2021 with version 14.5 of its iOS mobile operating system.
iPhone users are expected to provide explicit consent for user-level and device ID-based monitoring by apps. However, several users have declined to share this information en-masse.
The development has shaken Facebook advertisers who rely on social networks to sustain their firms. Several advertisers have moved away from Facebook, and actually, TikTok is becoming extremely popular since it’s more affordable from a cost-per 1,000 impressions basis.
Consequently, Facebook has lost $10bn in advertising revenue. The figure is almost 9% of the firm’s 2021 revenues. This is significant since it’s a quarter of its overall annual profit.
Almost two decades ago, Facebook was an innovator with very little competition, if there was any. Presently the market is saturated with better innovation. Thus a strong market position is no longer a guarantee for Facebook.
The platform needs to be swift in improving the application to improve its user base.
