Facebook was in my no-thanks bucket for a long time, but that has really changed and it didn't involve any significant privacy compromises beyond the usual ad-sales stuff.
By the way, there are a LOT of people using assumed names in these groups. Some of them get reported and return to unleash their annoyance on the rest of the group for "whoever did that". It's a really awkward aspect of the experience IMO.
and then they resolve to stolen identities which makes this whole fb thing awfully fraudulent
Teenagers usually don’t use FB. They have other means to keep in touch with their peer group and they don’t want to be on the same platform as adults are on. But you see once they move away and want to keep in touch with family, they are more likely to be on it.
About 51% of US/C check facebook or messenger every day, and 67% every month. So 16% of people check it but less than daily.
Every once in a while I think about deleting my account but then I remember I have all those people I know only through Facebook.
I have worked for companies with big, really big, user bases. As time passes companies get way better at getting more value from each user. They have more data. They have better software to offer promotions, advertisements, etc. You may be better off with half the users but getting more money from each one of them than with more users but giving low value. Depending on where the lines in the graph cross less users and more money is possible.
I have missed meetups, other social engagements, family photo shares, news and such that were on FB only. Get routinely made fun of by family and friends since I am the "techy" who is "afraid" of technology as they say.
But people I care about I contact via email, chat, talk in person or phone. Maybe I am strange and I just never felt the need to either broadcast to everyone what I am doing or keep an eye on what everyone else is doing unless I am talking to them one one one.
But there is hardly a messaging platform as ubiquitous as Facebook messenger. Not everyone uses it as their main messaging client but almost everyone has one. Having an active Facebook page and group has also done more for my online business than any ad marketing. And Facebook marketplace is like Craigslist but better in almost every way.
I don't care if people make a Facebook account or not but there is certainly value in one, even if you don't care about the "News Feed".
Most of what I've noticed is people no longer posting something on Facebook, then Instygram, then Twitter, then Tumblr, then whatever else is out there. They seem to be coalescing into one or two favored platforms.
People were sharing less and that seemed to be a major issue for them.
I wonder if there is sort of the uncool factor going on. People might "use" FB but it's not cool to post very often or admit to it. 1.56B DAUs, that's 20% of the planet, if you include whatsapp, I think it's staggeringly more. Either they are somehow lying about their numbers and risking potential shareholder lawsuits or it is like shopping at Walmart or eating at McDonald's where the "cool kids" never admit to it but very clearly a good sized chunk of them still do. Lying about the numbers just seems sort of silly to me.
It's odd, none of my same age friends post much on FB; it's vacation brag pictures, various life events or children's milestones sort of stuff. At the same time, messenger might be the best way to contact many of them, better than SMS.
I guess all that growth must come from countries that recently got into Facebook.