Facebook is doomed. Everyone under the age of 30 is leaving
it…
This is a completely bullshit statement that some would have
you believe. We’ve heard it all before; ‘Twitter is going to topple Facebook’, ‘Instagram
is taking over’. Neither has happened yet, so I wish writers would calm down
and refrain from these sensationalised statements until there is a major attack
on the social media giant.
In the following article, social media expert (whom I
greatly admire), Dave Kerpen explains that many younger Facebook users are
dropping the social media platform to use other networks such as Snapchat &
Vine. It seems that their parents and older family members are signing up and becoming
very active on the platform… *Damn*
Dave's Article:
The later part of this statement is true; an older
demographic is beginning to take to the most powerful social media platform in
the world. However, what has been missed out is that younger users are simply not
engaging and sharing as much as they
used to. The fact is that they are still, very much, present on Facebook. The
statistics speak for themselves:
·
83% of 18-29 year old American internet users are on it.
·
73% of 30-49 year old American internet users are on it.
·
57% of 50-64 year old American internet users are on it.
The last time I checked, Facebook was more than just a
platform to share pictures. A lot more.
It’s true that newer social media platforms such as Snapchat
and Vine are on the ascendancy, but they have a long way to go before they will
seriously affect Facebook. Right now they’re a pimple on the ass of Facebook,
and Facebook have shown that they're pretty good at controlling these break outs.
Let’s take Vine for example:
Vine is the fastest growing social media app in the world.
However, it currently only has 40 million registered users. They also haven’t
announced the number of active users. All we know is that Vine activity dropped
when, Facebook owned, Instagram announced its competing video service in June.
So, 40 million Vs 1 Billion… Facebook are hardly doomed. The
truth of the matter is that by gaining 1 billion registered users, Facebook is
well on its way to saturating the market.
There are 1.9 billion internet users in the world that have
access to Facebook (China cannot access Facebook), so Facebook have captured
53% of the potential market. On top of that, Facebook saw a 2% growth between
2012 and 2013.
So, with the number people now on Facebook, of course growth
has slowed down. It may even soon halt. But should this cause panic in the
Facebook ranks? I’d say no.
Facebook, like Apple, have rocketed to the top and can
almost touch the elusive glass ceiling. At this level any small attack at the
foot of the market will have a small effect on usage and sales etc. There will always
be others that will try to topple them from their throne. Unfortunately this is
the life of a champion
.
I have every faith that Facebook will continue to stay agile
and innovative for years to come, and will continue to cast there ever-seeing
eye across the market.
To conclude:
