Has Facebook reached its peak?
The number of people who use Facebook has been leveling off over the past few months in the U.S., according to the latest stats provided by comScore.
The number of people who use Facebook has been leveling off over the past few months in the U.S., according to the latest stats provided by comScore.
In fact, the report concluded numbers dipped by roughly 800,000 users in January alone. Specifically, Facebook attracted 33.9 million unique visitors in January, 2008, down 2 percent from 34.7 million in December, 2007.
Worldwide, however, Facebook grew 3 percent in January over December, attracting 100.7 million unique visitors. By comparison, MySpace had 109.3 million visitors worldwide, up 2 percent month-over-month.
What about you? If you signed up for a Facebook account last year, do you still use it today?
i moved far away from all of my friends and family, and facebook has been wonderful for keeping in touch with them. i can see their pictures and post my own, write messages, organize events…and i've found that it's really useful in those ways. i think sometimes it gets out of hand with who gets added (are you really going to have a meaningful online friendship with the guy from your grade one baseball team?), but i still use it a lot. definitely not a replacement for face-to-face contact, but for those who are far away, it's great.
Like some people have already said, I only use it when someone e-mails me. Other than that I already took down most of my info and pictures. Not only did it get boring but it went completely downhill for me when Facebook deleted the work group I was in because Safeway thought that employess shouldn't be talking about the company publically. That combined with the Rogers commercial about their new phone and it's Facebook cababilities makes the site seem really useless. You reconnect with people which is fun, but then those people get busy because we all have our own lives, and you are left with friends on Facebook you barely talk to anyway. The novelty has completely worn off.
At first, a lot of people I knew were asking me to get Facebook – so I finally gave in. I had like 12 friend requests in like 30 seconds after I joined. Anyway…at first, I loved the site. Unique groups, funny surveys, and catching up with people I'd lost touch with. Now, I'm lucky if I get any messages at all. I think the appeal of Facebook is gone. A few people have told me not to message them on Facebook, because they don't check it and wouldn't get the wall post. If I'm bored, I will check it, but usually if I don't get an email letting me know something, I usually don't check it.
I was warned about FaceBook, but decided to check it out anyways. Yes, it is a wonderful tool used to connect people and re-connect people from the past…but it's also pretty seedy. I can't count how many people from my past have tried to start affairs on their wives with me! AND this happens all the time on FaceBook. There is a reason why people say that FaceBook breaks up relationships…it does. Yes, it IS a persons choice, however ALL of us have that 'someone' from the past…FaceBook allows you the possibility of re-connecting with those lost loves and thus destroying your CURRENT love and family. Most people (no matter how happily committed or married) simply cannot compete with that 'someone' from the past. If your spouces are on FaceBook more than a few times a week…they're up to no good.
facebook is the way of life to me…
I use it almost everyday.
I've found alot of people that I went to school with and friends I haven't seen in as much as 10 years on the site.
It's a great way to find old friends and long lost relatives on.
I'm addicted to the Sportsbets application, you can go in and bet on your favourite team and other sports you don't have a clue about and learn more. The only bad thing is the offensive language some high schoolers use, but once you get over that, it's addicting and fun to see if you can up your pretend points. A fun way to gamble without spending money. I also use it to keep in contact with old high school friends as I live 600 miles from them now, so we can send drinks and buy and sell friends in there and get a laugh out of life.
I use it all the time. I'm probably one of the 'addicted'. Every single day, I log on. Maybe it's because I'm a university student… but this is a good form of communication with people – especially when time zones prohibit using MSN. I like it, it's fun!
Facebook is pretty much just a free version of Classmates. The cool people are not the ones with 300+ friends, but the people that are not on Facebook. They have real friends, real relationships and real lives. Facebook is absolute garbage.
I use Facebook a fair bit to keep in touch with friends and family whom I otherwise cannot see. I prefer face-to-face interaction, myself, but under the circumstances, Facebook is a good thing. It's also a neat way to share photos and the like between far-away relatives and friends. As for getting more excersize…I already freeze my butt off just about every day to do just that at this time of the year!
I would use facebook or myspace only if I were in prison or confined to a hospital bed. There are so many better ways to make friends and communicate. It's very sad.
i'm a facebook user, and i like it! i use it a lot simply when i'm bored and feel like talking to people! i used to have my favorite singer and his sister on there too before they left their accounts! i really love it!
It's an extremely useful networking tool and brilliantly designed, which is the reason for its success. It just makes sense.
You don't have to use it addictively, it's got its pros and cons, I'll agree to that. However, it's really useful when you want to keep up an acquaintance, but live too far apart, or maybe too close… And I know for a fact it has helped countless people find eachother and reconnect!
All this to say, love it or hate it, facebook has changed the way people communicate, forever, I think.
I use it almost every day. It's become a habit, a reflex even. I have it in my favorites and I instinctively click on it right after checking my e-mails, it's become a routine. It's interesting because it seems that now everyone's life is on display, but you do have strong control over what you want to show to people and who gets to see it. So in that sense, I think facebook is great.
Umm, okay, Meme?
I think you're being a little too cynical and melodramatic. Have a little faith in your partner, not everyone whose on Facebook so often is up to no good!
And YES, it is a person's choice. That's exactly the point. YOU choose who you want to connect with and how or how much. And it's YOUR choice NOT to start an affair! If you were face to face with this person instead of online, the temptation still would've been there and the events still could've occurred.
So please, don't use Facebook as a lame excuse for someone's lack of self-control.
I use facebook as a tool to locate long lost family that I lost touch with 27 years ago. Without it, I would not have found them. Everyones life is so busy these days that we dont have the tim eto just sit and call everyone and talk on the phone for 20-30 minutes each one. Besides calling cost money. I have been able to chat with them, and send updated pics of weddings, and births that I would have been able to get to them other ways. People just have to use it as a tool, and not a crutch for boredom. Overall, facebook is great.
For those of you saying it's a complete and utter waste…take a minute to contemplate the amount of time you spend sitting on a toilet.
If something brings satisfaction into a persons life, while not harming anyone else, who are you to condemn it.
lmao@Christie
I use Facebook and most of my friends on there I already know. I think it's great for playing scrabble too.
"Facebook is the dumbest idea in the world. People, get out of the house and make real friends. This is one of the reasons that so many children are overweight. Go outside and get some exercise losers."
This is the dumbest comment in the list. There will always be distractions, Bob. Lifestyle (i.e. eating habits and exercise) determines weight you stupid ass. :p
I enjoy using Facebook, but I'm finding a lot of the applications that they have a little (sometimes a lot) stupid and/or overwhelming. But it is a good way to keep in touch with family and friends that are out of town or people that you haven't heard or seen for a while. I also love playing Scrabulous with friends, so overall I think it's great.
I use it daily to see people's photos and to upload my own (for others to see and for safekeeping)…it's a daily routine; I am sure I should probably be out doing something active, but it is so nice to see what my friends are up to!