You've probably heard of Facebook, even if you've never used it.

 It is one of the world's largest social media networks, with presence in almost every nation. For a long time, it appeared like the site could do no wrong, and it was only becoming better.

 

For the first time in Facebook's history, the number of daily active users is decreasing. The site has 1.93 billion daily active visitors in Q3 2021. The amount declined to 1.929 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021.

 

While such numbers would make almost any website happy for a year, much alone a day, the dip indicates a larger problem for Facebook. Let's look at the causes behind Facebook's declining user base.

 

1 - TikTok is the King

 

It's no secret that TikTok is a force to be reckoned with on the internet. TikTok claimed to have over one billion subscribers on their platform in September 2021.

 

 

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, acknowledged TikTok's importance to the firm in early 2022. It's why Facebook launched Reels, a short-form video platform that aims to vary Facebook's typical text-heavy, status-driven strategy.

 

"TikTok is already such a massive rival, and it continues to develop at a much quicker rate off of a very large base," Zuckerberg remarked. "Even though we compound extraordinarily rapidly, we also have a rival that compounds extremely quickly."

 

2 - There Isn't Any Interest Among Young People

 

TikTok is popular among young people, but it's not the only network they prefer over Facebook.

 

Games like Fortnite and Roblox, as well as platforms like Discord, are more popular among kids and teens than Facebook.

 

Facebook is viewed as a place where the elderly generation may reconnect with their families. For children, video games provide creative 3D worlds in which they may interact with their peers and share a joyful, shared experience.

 

Internally, Facebook recognises this. According to The Verge, Facebook analysts predict that teen Facebook users would plummet 45 percent in 2022 compared to 2019.

 

"Young adults regard [Facebook] material as dull, false, and unfavourable," according to a business presentation, and "have a wide variety of negative connotations with Facebook, including privacy concerns, impact on their wellbeing, and limited understanding of related services."

 

3 - Increasing Internet Costs

 

With nearly twice as many users as the United States, India is Facebook's largest market. Though there are many reasons for this, it's possible that TikTok's suspension in India is not accidental.

 

According to David Wehner, CFO of Meta (Facebook's parent company), the country's data rates have increased, slowing Facebook's user growth in India.

 

All major Indian telecommunications hiked their prepaid charges by up to 25% in November 2021. Because of these changes, which are expected to hurt individuals with lower means, the cost of joining Facebook in India has never been greater.

 

4 - There are no countries in which to expand

 

In 2004, only students from a few select US institutions were allowed to join Facebook. Facebook is now available in almost every nation, however it is still prohibited in a handful, such as China and Iran.

 

Because such restrictions are unlikely to be relaxed, Facebook is effectively unable to grow regionally. Anyone who wishes to join the social networking site is welcome to do so.

 

As a result, Facebook has a more difficult task in attracting new sociodemographic groups or luring older users back to the network.