The number of Facebook users in the US fell by 15M people between 2017 and 2019, says a new report, with the various privacy-related controversies likely to have played some role in that.
But, ironically, Facebook-owned Instagram has seen to biggest increase in US users over the same timescale …
Marketplace spoke with Edison Research’s Larry Rosin.
But with almost 80% of the US population using social media, there’s no suggestion that people are abandoning social networks – simply switching between platforms.
Said Rosin: “Fifteen million is a lot of people, no matter which way you cut it. It represents about 6 percent of the total U.S. population ages 12 and older. What makes it particularly important is if it is part of a trend. This is the second straight year we’ve seen this number go down. Obviously, the U.S. is the biggest market, in terms of dollars, and it’s going to be a super important market for Facebook or anybody who’s playing in this game.”
The percentage of the population using Instagram grew from 9% to 16% in the same timescale.
Edison also found that more than half the US population aged 12 and over has now listened to a podcast.
Finally, it seems once people get their first smart speaker, they want more.
One-third of the population reported having listened to a podcast in the last month, representing 90 million monthly listeners.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg yesterday outlined plans to focus more on privacy.
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