by Josh Makuch, September 2015
On the 29th August 2015, for the first time ever, over one billion users used Facebook on a single day. The website, founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, had also previously claimed back in July that over half the world’s online users visit the site at least one a month. So does this finally give a definitive answer to the question that has surfaced since the turn of the decade: Is Facebook still relevant?
This recent news would certainly suggest that it is as relevant as ever, but for me, this raises another question: If Facebook is still relevant, then why are less of my friends posting statuses on my news feed, and why is my Mum the only one liking the links to my article’s that I am sharing?
I’ll admit, I have been very critical of Facebook over the last couple of years, but I have to give them credit where credit is deserved, they’ve upped their game! They’ve understood that detailing everything about your personal life in a status update is a thing of the past, and have instead focused on allowing people easier ways to share and view different type’s media, with a prime example being photos and videos. The ‘share’ button was rarely clicked on when it was first introduced, but these days it suffers more abuse than when I mention in the pub that I’m a Sunderland fan!
So surely at one point we will be able to look at Facebook and agree that it has passed its peak, but with one billion user in a single day, I think we are still a long way off that. So whilst the question of relevance is shelved for the moment, Facebook must focus on how it can continue to grow and to meet the public’s needs for viral cat videos.
