When I hear that facebook is already ‘on its way out’ it is often from someone who is secretly happy that they never got on board in the first place. And this always feels like an excuse to avoid engagement with people (prospects, clients, colleagues) in social media. Because the truth of the matter is, social is a thing. A real thing, and whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Scoop.it, Pinterest or whatever, it’s part of our lives.
And for people who think that Facebook is just for personal use and people don’t ‘do business’ there – What do you think television is? Or nowadays let’s say hulu plus. Yeah, we are not there to do business, but there sure is some serious advertising and branding going on.
So when you feel comforted by the fact that Facebook is decreasing in users (they had 757 million daily active users on average in December 2013 by the way), take a step back and consider social media versus the tool. It touches us all and social engagement is part of all successful company strategies. But don’t think of it as marketing. Think of it as a chance to chat with your clients and customers. Think of it as going to a luncheon or industry event – it’s networking plain and simple.
Other interesting stats that should give some perspective:
- 945 million monthly active users used Facebook mobile products as of December 31, 2013.
- Twitter has 241 million monthly active users and 500 million tweets are sent per day.
- In Q4 2013, Pinterest jumped to #3 (behind Twitter and Facebook) as the most popular channel to share content.
So next time someone tells you how sad Facebook is because it’s in decline, ask them if they ever used it.