Despite ongoing predictions of its demise, and countless straight up declarations of the same, Facebook is still going strong, and still adding users, despite the app now having been with us for 20 years.
Yes, this week marks the 20th anniversary of “The Facebook”, Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard side project, which went on to become a global powerhouse, which is now used by almost half of all people on the planet.
Indeed, as of last count, Facebook now has over 3 billion monthly active users.
To put that in perspective, the population of the entire world is around 8 billion, and with 1.4 billion people in China, where Meta’s apps are not available, and around 25% of the global population aged under 15 (you have to be 13 years old to sign up for Facebook), that suggests that the majority of people who can access Facebook actually do, on a regular basis.
What’s more, Facebook’s usage over time is actually increasing, in terms of the amount of monthly active users who log in daily.
You can see the percentages at the bottom of this chart, which reflect the amount of Facebook’s monthly active users that are logging in daily.
So while Facebook may not be the cool app anymore, and may have seemingly lost its allure among younger audiences in particular, it’s still a critical connector, in many ways. Meta’s own stats also show that people have been spending more time on Facebook as a result of its advancing AI content recommendations. So again, more people, logging in more often, who are now also spending more time within the Facebook feed.
I do think that there have been some impacts over time, in regards to overall time spent. Third-party data suggests that TikTok users, for example, spend a lot more time in that app than those on Facebook, with YouTube also seeing more engaged usage.
Facebook, it does seem, has lost some traction here. But again, it is regaining, as it shifts more towards becoming an entertainment source, along with a connective tool.
And if Meta can make Facebook both, that could ensure that it remains the most relevant social app for the widest breadth of users for some time yet.
To provide some perspective on the growth of Facebook, the team from Statista have put together this chart of The Social Network’s growth.
The fact that that orange line is trending up once again is a significant marker, which underlines the dominance, and resonance, of Zuckerberg’s social behemoth.
It’s been a bumpy ride, with many challenges, and various issues. But it’s amazing to consider that the next generation of adults has never lived in a world where Facebook wasn’t a relevant connective tool.
If that doesn’t underline its potential value as a marketing tool, I’m not sure what will.
