In a world where it is considered strange not to have a Facebook account, the absolute power and dominance of social networking sites is impressive.
However, while Facebook has experienced rapid growth since it was first created in 2004 and now boasts 1.23 billion users, it has recently faced intense criticism that it is losing its luster.
Teenagers seem to be getting bored with the famous site, abandoning it for new… rivals. The sharply increased trend towards online advertising has also annoyed many users.
Social media fatigue
"For teenagers, Facebook has become like going to a party with their parents," said Gavin Hammar, CEO of social media marketing platform Sendible.
"As young people seek out more private social networks where they can communicate with their friends without their parents watching, we will continue to see teens leave Facebook.".
Analysts told CNBC that trend could grow stronger this year, threatening to erode the social media giant's dominance, though most said it would be hard to imagine a world where Facebook has lost its crown altogether.
At the end of 2013, researchers at GlobalWebIndex, a data provider, found that the number of American teenagers active on Facebook fell to 56% in the third quarter of 2013 from 76% in the first quarter.
The rise of apps
According to GlobalWebIndex, teenagers are turning to messaging apps like WeChat, video site Vine, and photo site Flickr.
Sendible points out that if and when teens leave Facebook, there is a risk that the site will become less popular with other age groups as well, a trend that is the central motivation behind Facebook's acquisitions like Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp this year, as well as its attempt to buy Snapchat late last year.
Sendible added that growing social network fatigue is the key risk for Facebook, a trend that is likely to lead to a greater focus on privacy and more limited contact between friends.
"With the increasing number of ads appearing on Facebook now, it's even harder for users to see what's important," he stressed.
Most analysts, however, conclude that Facebook's dominance in the world of social networking, although destabilized, is not expected to be overturned anytime soon.
"Facebook will continue to be successful for a long time to come, but only if it keeps users happy. It's a tough balancing act, but one that's paying off well right now," said Jon Myers, managing director for EMEA at Marin Software.
"Facebook may be the big loser of 2014," said Rachel Wood, chief strategy officer at Andrews Aldridge.
Source: tro-ma-ktiko.blogspot.gr
