Facebook's growth in the United States reaches a plateau as new research shows that its user base in the country is probably not going to get bigger anymore.
Recently, the social media network even posted a decline in its daily users and the problem is that its largest market is the United States.
Facebook Stumbles
A study conducted by the Pew Research Center on social media suggests that Facebook's usage among adults in the United States has stagnated. While 68 percent of Americans use Facebook, this number has stayed the same over the last three years. The research also shows three-quarters of 68 percent access Facebook on a daily basis.
The daily usage numbers from Facebook haven't looked good lately, however. At the end of January, the company reported that its daily active user base in the United States and Canada fell for the first time. It reported that it had 185 million daily active users in the third quarter of 2017 but this number slipped to 184 million in the fourth quarter.
Facebook still holds a dominant lead over other social media websites. None of the others on the list, such as Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter, and WhatsApp, are used by more than 40 percent of Americans.
However, YouTube, a new addition to the survey, jumped over Facebook and is now used by 73 percent of Americans. The video-sharing website was excluded from studies in previous years. It's being added to the study this year because it contains many social elements, even though it is not considered a traditional social media platform.
Instagram And WhatsApp Picking Up The Slack
Something that may stave off worries from Facebook is that it owns both Instagram and Whatsapp. Both are listed and are taking numbers away from other Facebook rivals, Twitter and Snapchat.
Facebook's biggest worry may come from Snapchat. Facebook still leads among users between the age of 18 and 24 with 80 percent but Snapchat is nipping at its heels with 78 percent. Instagram is also popular with younger people coming in third at 71 percent.
A cause for worry for Facebook might be the numbers of the younger generation. While the younger ones were excluded from the study as it only focused on adults, it looks like Facebook is losing younger users.
Facebook will lose 2 million users between ages 24 and younger in 2018. Users between age 11 and younger will drop by 9.3 percent and age 12 and 17 will drop by 5.6 percent.
Instagram will be able to pick up some of the slack by adding 1.6 million users at age 24 and younger. The problem is that Snapchat will be the one gaining almost all of the lost users by adding 1.9 million users at age 24 and under.
