There have been many changes over the past month in social media world. We’ve seen Facebook convert all their pages, individual and corporate, over to the timeline layout, and purchase Instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock; Google launched a complete redesign of Google+; and even LinkedIn announced new tools for its users. Facebook, the goliath of all the social media networks, still maintains a huge advantage in both number of total users and time users spend on its site, however, there are rumblings that something isn’t quite the same anymore at the behemoth. Let’s take a quick look at two of the top issues with Facebook that are coming out via the interwebs.
Is Engagement on Facebook Decreasing?
Image via CrunchBase
While Facebook’s numbers are still strong — the average user visits about 21 times per month and spends 20 minutes per session for a total of 6-7 hours per month — there seems to be a definite decrease in engagement and to some degree, at least anecdotally, user participation. It was just reported that Facebook’s ad engagement is down 8% in the US between Q4 2011 and Q1 2012, and while some analysts say this isn’t a big deal, other marketers are not so sure this isn’t the beginning of a larger Facebook issue. From a less scientific perspective, colleagues and friends alike, share stories of Facebook becoming “boring” due to lack of information from friends, businesses and colleagues. It appears that people have less time for Facebook these days and have also tired of the constant changes Facebook makes to both layout and privacy settings. Do you hear this from your friends and colleagues?
Facebook is Now “The Man”
With Facebook’s purchase of Instagram came a major uproar in the social media community. What it boiled down to was big corporate Facebook, once the social media darling, buying out little, independent Instagram and most of the feedback was not positive. Reactions ranged from people closing their Instagram accounts to closing both their Instagram and Facebook accounts. According to a recent article by Bianca Bosker, Senior Tech Editor at the Huffington Post, “In the flurry of blog posts, tweets and status updates about the Instagram deal, Facebook was likened to Dr. Evil, Foxconn, the North Korean army, and the Evil Empire — precisely the same nickname given to Microsoft in its monopoly phase.” OUCH!
The Bottom Line
Despite some major stumblings and grumblings at the moment, Facebook remains the most heavily used social media channel with almost 1 billion users, an upcoming IPO estimated to be worth somewhere in the vicinity of $100 billion, and more user time per month than any other platform. For most marketers with an audience on Facebook, it is far too early to write off the behemoth — though it may be time to keep a more attentive eye on the effectiveness of tactics successful in the past.
