Dissecting Facebook’s Masked User Decline

Even if you don’t keep up with the tech news, you have probably heard that Facebook is losing users. In the last quarter of 2021, the social media behemoth witnessed a drop in daily active users for the first time ever.

For a company that has grown so rapidly since its inception, this might come as a shock. But, what’s more important is the number of users that Facebook has actually lost and if this is something they should worry about.

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So How Many Users Have Facebook Lost?

The2021 Q4 earnings report of Meta showed that Facebook’s daily active users (DAUs) have shrunk from 1.930 billion to around 1.929 billion. This means that Facebook lost between 500,000 and one million users, depending on the news source.

The actual earnings report does not include figures in more detail, so as a result of rounding to the nearest million, there’s no way to tell the exact number of users that Facebook lost—only estimates.

For any other website or social network, one million would be a huge figure. But for a platform with 1.93 billion users, a 0.05% decline is just a drop in the ocean.

To put that into context, almost 40% of active internet users still use Facebook every day. And around 60% of people use it monthly.

Region-wise data shows that Facebook lost one million daily users in the US and Canada. More alarmingly, the number of daily users in the US-Canada region has remained stagnant for the last two years, which suggests thatFacebook’s popularity may have peaked .

Talking about other metrics, the monthly active users saw a rise of two million—which is again negligible. Meta’s revenue grew from $29.01 billion in Q3 2021 to $33.67 billion in the next quarter. But the lower-than-expected net income and forecast caused Meta’s share price to plunge.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Statement on Losing Users

Credits:Anthony Quintano via Flickr

In thefourth-quarter earnings call , Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the competition his company has been facing from TikTok. With Facebook pushing Reels aggressively to the Newsfeed, it’s evident that the company is trying to capture the short video market.

Apparently, this strategy is working, as Mark Zuckerberg reported Reels is the platform’s fastest-growing format.

But TikTok is not the onlyreason for Facebook’s declining users . Lack of interest among the younger population, no markets to expand into, and its controversial privacy and tracking policies have all contributed to this trend.

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A negligibly-small drop in the number of daily users, and that too for the first time, doesn’t mean that Facebook will fade away anytime soon. The Meta’s expansion into the metaverse will definitely help its flagship product, Facebook.

The reason for declining users is perhaps a graver issue for the site than the drop itself. This slight dip will surely set off alarm bells within the company. Combined with pressure from authorities, the public, and competitors, Facebook might actually reconsider the policies that have brought it under scrutiny and contributed to the drop in users.

There seems to be an indication that Facebook is working on policy changes to increase its user base. Perhaps the key reason for this downfall is that Facebook has failed to attract the younger population.

But Mark Zuckerberg, in aFacebook post , outlined the company’s decision to re-shift its focus towards the younger audience, aged 18-29.

As it aggressively promotes Horizon Worlds, VR devices, and Reels, Facebook might regain the interest of young adults—a step which is essential to increase its user base. Moreover, a change in its privacy program and ads infrastructure can also help the platform.

Facebook’s User Loss Is Not as Big as It Seems

Losing half a million daily users, and that too for the first time in 18 years, is surely not a good sign for Facebook. But, thanks to its giant user base, this decline is only a drop in the ocean.

That said, what Facebook should be worrying about is the reason for the declining number of users. The company has acknowledged and taken steps to address some of these causes.

But only time will tell if Facebook succeeds in regaining its lost users and the interest among the younger generation.