According this article on Mashable the worlds biggest social network is seeing slowed growth. If the figures are correct and the trend continues it means that Facebook’s growth is finally slowing. For the first time since its inception there was a decrease in the number of users in the US & Canada. However strong growth outside these countries means Facebook is still growing overall.
More interesting than the article itself were the comments where several people are predicting the demise of Facebook. In addition the Sunday Times suggests the Social Media bubble might soon burst.
To plagiarize and butcher a saying “reports of Facebook’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”
There is, of course, a saturation point that Facebook will reach. Once you’ve reached the total online population you can only grow as quickly as that population grows.
One comment asked “I wonder if we’ll still be using Facebook in 20 years time?”
Whether Facebook survives or the social media bubble bursts is quite irrelevant. We long ago (well in digital terms it was long ago) passed the tipping point or watershed for social media. It has become so a part of our lives that whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or some new platform we will be social media’ing for as long as there is electricity.
It’s a little like cell phones (or any technology that has firmly rooted itself in culture), we no longer really care which company provides it as long as we get it and the service is good. The demand is so great that supply is inevitable.
And the more the individual platforms have to battle for growth the better for us. After all they’ll be fighting to keep us, the modern empowered consumers, happy.
Your thoughts – how will social media evolve in the years to come?
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