Facebook fatigue is slowly spreading worldwide
It was revealed that about 115,000
less people are logging on to
Facebook each month since the
new year, with the network losing
about 390,000 active users overall.
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`Facebook fatigue` has reached
Australia, as new data revealed that
almost 400,000 users have drifted
away from the social network since
December.
The data collected by social media
monitoring firm Social Bakers
showed that the network's monthly
active Australian users fell from
about 11.8 million in December to
just over 11.5 million in the past
week, News.com.au reported.
It revealed that about 115,000 less
people are logging on to Facebook
each month since the new year,
with the network losing about
390,000 active users overall.
The figures were collated from
Facebook's publicly accessible ad
tools, used by marketers and
developers to determine audience
reach.
Social media marketing expert at
the Queensland University of
Technology Business School,
Professor Larry Neale, said there
had also been a decline in
Facebook users in North America
and Europe, as "Facebook fatigue"
sweeps the globe.
"When Facebook was starting up
they got a lot of people on and it
was very novel, but the novelty has
worn off a little bit, so now people
are scaling back use," he said.
Prof Neale said the decline could
also be attributed to Facebook
members of three or more years
drifting away from the network as
they discover they no longer have
time for it.
Adelaide social media consultant
Michelle Prak said while more than
half the population now owns a
Facebook account, the network's
ban on members under 13 coupled
with older people's general lack of
interest in it means it may have
reached a stalemate in Australia,
with no real potential to grow user
numbers any further.
Prak said boredom, a desire to try
new technologies and frustration
with Facebook's ever increasing use
of advertising were helping to drive
users away from the network.
QUT social media researcher Dr
Christine Satchell said the
proliferation of more "open" social
media channels, such as link
sharing site Reddit, were
contributing to users' migration
away from Facebook.
Facebook fatigue isn't a new
phenomenon. In 2011, millions of
users in the US and Europe began
deactivating their accounts and
there were predictions the same
would happen in Australia.
