The number of regular Facebook users fall for first time ever

The number of Facebook users declined in the last three months of 2021 – a first for the social media giant since it debuted 17 years ago.

Facebook lost a half million global daily users in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to Wednesday’s Q4 2022 earnings report of parent company Meta.

That might not seem like much compared to Facebook’s 1.93 billion total daily active users, but this downward trend seems likely to continue due to increased competition, particualrly from TikTok.

Facebook has particularly struggled to stay relevant to younger users who are also key to Meta’s big bet on the metaverse.

Meta stock was down 25% in regular trading mid-day on Thursday.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.