So, Is Facebook Really Dying?

Ten years ago, Mark Zuckerberg launched “Thefacebook.” Since then, it’s fairly safe to say that it has taken over the world.

As of October 2013, Facebook has over 1 billion active users. At any given point of the day, there is an average of 728 million of them online. That’s a number that has steadily been increasing by 25% year-on-year.

But now that we’ve all witnessed Facebook’s meteoric rise, are we about to see an equally dazzling death? Is Facebook finally looking at impending doom?

The signs seem to be pointing to yes.

1. Lawsuits A-plenty

If you’ve seen the movie “The Social Network,” you no doubt know about Facebook’s first brush with the court of law. It came at the hands of twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. They supposedly won a $65 million settlement in 2008. (That didn’t seem to have stopped the twins, though. They’re at it again.)

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Shareholder Gaye Jones has recently filed another lawsuit. This time, there were claims that “reduced revenues” were not disclosed to all investors. This came at the heels of Facebook’s IPO.

And that’s not all.

Facebook, and Zuckerberg, has been sued for sharing personal information, the “like” button patent, and most recently for using users’ likes for advertisements.

2. Older Demographic

Earlier this year, a report came out saying Facebook’s users are getting much older. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project report, 57% of US adults have registered to the social networking site.

Why is that bad? Because just days after the information came out, stock value plummeted.

3. Other Sites Are Looking at Taking a Share of the Pie

We can talk lawsuits all day. We can even throw the oldies in for good measure. But the real threat to Facebook comes in the form of its rivals.

After all, you can’t lead the race without a few people snapping at your heels.

Last year, 33% of teens said Facebook was their most important social network.

Twitter is 2nd with 30% of teens tabbing it. Insignificant? Not if you count the fact that the proportion of teens choosing Facebook dropped by 3% compared to the previous year. Twitter’s increased by 9%.

Instagram is also gaining traction. It’s up 5% to 17% among teens.

4. Good bye, Facebook!

What’s the result of the sudden rise in the numbers of social networking sites? Choices, choices, choices. Facebook suddenly doesn’t have the monopoly on “cool.”

If you haven’t noticed by now, people are leaving the site in droves. It’s even becoming trendy to delete your Facebook account. Teens and adults alike are moving on. Why?

Here, Mashable lists the top 5 reasons people leave Facebook:

It’s overwhelming
Hiding from employers
Hiding from an Ex
To avoid anxiety
Having an Existential Crisis

With all the reasons above, you’d think Facebook is not just dying. It’s practically buried.

Diehards will tell you otherwise. But, really, unless it does something new to really reignite a positive spark, Facebook might just be going the way of MySpace.

Dan M. Shahar is trying to expand his client base for WeSellWords. When he’s finally leaving the office, he like reading and playing ball with his friends.