Is Facebook growth finally slowing?
In May Facebook grew by 7.8 million users in the U.S. In June, the figure was just 320,800. Has Facebook reached saturation point in its home territory?
Facebook has seen incredible growth over the last few years, both in terms of user numbers and engagement. However, June was a bad month for the site in the U.S., with Inside Facebook reporting just 320,800 new active users joining the site.
Has that rather nasty privacy row had an adverse effect or is this just a one-month blip for reasons as yet unclear?
There are certainly a lot more people in the U.S. Facebook could attract to the site, but it has to be wondered whether the majority of people between the ages of 18 and 45 who are ever going to join the social network have already done so. After all, no one could possibly not have heard of Facebook by now.
Even if this is the case, and I rather suspect the numbers will bounce back next month, Facebook is an ever-growing force in other parts of the world, so its rise to 1 billion users is still likely to be on course. It just may take a little longer than Mark Zuckerberg and co. hope it does.
