Every time you log into Facebook you may notice your friend count getting a little smaller and it’s not just something you said. As if the friend request from your grandmother wasn’t enough of a sign of the times. Facebook in the United States and Canada is losing members in droves. At the moment the social networking giant is gaining popularity in other counties. However a growing number of Americans have had one poke too many and are logging off for good. We all saw it with the decline in popularity of MySpace how quickly the hot social networking thing can turn into old news. When your friends started leaving MySpace we all knew that they were coming over to Facebook. The difference is now that there are so many options for social networking and many finding different ways to connect. Here are a few reasons I think Facebook is losing steam.
Twitter is so popular it deserved its own category. Everyone likes the next big thing and at the moment Twitter is one of them. With its ability to have personal one on one conversation it has stolen the hearts of many a former frequent Facebook user. The power to do a specific search on a word or phrase is a priceless asset for a business and makes for totally entertaining Tweets. The micro blogging social network boasts millions of users worldwide and is consistently gaining new tweeters, sharing their thoughts 140 characters at a time.
Boredom
Are you tired of hearing about what an ex coworker from 7 years ago ate for breakfast? Yeah, me too. People want different social networking experience, a little variety to spice things up. No one wants to have to wait with a heart full of hope that somebody eventually posts something interesting enough for you to like or add two cents. You wouldn’t go to the same bar every night would you? Well, it’s the same with the social networking you don’t want to be somewhere the same people are always there talking about the same things. With the popularity of blogs and gossip sites as well as other more entertaining places to be on the internet rather than waiting on nothing.
Work Place Crack Downs
Prior to the Emergences of MySpace, Facebook and the age of the social network workplace productivity had never met enemies so fierce. The social networks became addictive for so many that a slew of company employees were mentally and sometimes physically tuning out of work and logging in instead. This caused Employers to create policies about Social Networking and crack down. Some choosing to reprimand and in cases fire employees caught socializing via networks on their dime. It wasn’t just when employees were networking but also some of the content and status updates that were also causing major issues. Most people do most of their social networking at work. With this new workplace crack downs some people have less time and other obligations that keep them from logging on as much.
Not cut out for Social Networking
We all have the one friend that’s about one status update away from jumping off the nearest bridge. The occasional picture uploads of two best friends doing the duck face and shooting birds from the lobby of a local abortion clinic. And let’s not forget the random 2 am drunken self along with the rest of the entire world hate rants. Including but not limited to the why am I still single, and the, I am a good person speech. Slightly entertaining as this might be these people are clearly not cut out for social networking. More people are realizing their inability to edit themselves or just plain inability to communicate normally online with other people. Realizing once they press the send button you’ve just put a broadcast to the world. Some of them notice how they are perpetuating drama and negativity. They are getting off their virtual soapboxes and hopefully going to get help or at the very least sort out a few issues.
Privacy Concerns
I’m going to touch on this lightly but I really could on all day. When members started realizing that their information was getting out and being sold by Facebook it was a colossal #Fail It made many people uncomfortable and mistrusting of the network for fear of having yet another privacy violation.
Other Social Networks
I would be remiss not to mention Google plus. Google has done an excellent job at creating a buzz. Keeping with their tradition they rolled out invites giving access to a select few to add to the hype. But Google isn’t the only one stealing the shine. The new Niche Social Networking trend is steadily gaining popularity. With sites like http://www.sittertrade.com/ (shameless plug). Much like we have a certain group of friends we may like to hang out with sometimes and others another time. It’s the same in the social networking world. There are the mommy networks and knitting sites. There is a social network for everyone and just about everything and we are starting to spread out over a variety or networks connecting with different people, learning and sharing information
What do you think? Will Facebook become the virtual ghost town of social networks or will it be able to stay relevant?
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