Facebook user numbers are dropping for the first time ever, while parent company Meta is feeling the heat in the business space.
In this illustration photo taken in Los Angeles on October 28, 2021, a person watches on a smartphone Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveil the META logo. - Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday announced the parent company's name is being changed to "Meta" to represent a future beyond just its troubled social network.
Mashable reports that the social media site has experienced just a slight decrease in daily active users from 1.93 billion to 1.929 billion, which was revealed in the company's recent earnings report covering Q4 2021.
Much of the drop happened in the network's "Rest Of The World" category, which is basically anywhere that isn't Europe, the United States, or Asia. So that includes Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and basically everywhere else in the world.
The drop is also revealed to be the first quarterly decrease of its kind, falling short of the initial 1.95 billion-user prediction that was projected for the quarter.
It is a tiny drop by the grand scheme of things, but it does show that Facebook has finally hit a snag after all those years of growth. Meta didn't specifically mention what caused the drop in user numbers, but some analysts say the network is no longer growing any bigger.
According to TechCrunch, one of the potential reasons is how "mature" a product Facebook is now. There is only a limited number of people left to sign up, excluding those who use multiple accounts.
In addition, Meta has also been steadily pushing its other apps more than Facebook itself, like WhatsApp or Instagram. These two sites are considered "less mature" than Facebook and still have ample room to grow.
This drop in daily active users is also the first one since the social media platform surpassed 1 billion way back in 2015.
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Meta's Revenue Drops
The drop in Facebook user numbers is only a part of the equation, as the earnings call also reported heavy financial losses for Meta overall.
CNBC reports that the company lost over $10 billion last year alone. What's even worse for Meta is that the losses apparently keep growing, as the company seems to spend even more to fund the next stage of their business, which is the Metaverse. They're essentially spending more money than they make at this point.
Another CNBC report also revealed that Facebook's shares dropped over 20% due to weak earnings. There were multiple reasons for this, but the most important was inflation and supply chain disruptions caused by both advertisers and users themselves.
Analysts initially projected that revenue during the first quarter of 2022 will top $30 billion. But as things are now, the figures sit between $27 billion and $29 billion-not small amounts by any means, but still well below the original prediction.
But does this mean that Facebook will die soon? Numerous things say this isn't likely, since it remains as the world's biggest social media platform. For now, only time will tell.
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Written by RJ Pierce
