Saba Zia Hassan (Edited by Dikshita Pemmaraju)
Facebook is addicting. Facebook is much too addicting! It is addicting enough that it kills our valuable time. Probably one of the biggest issues of Facebook is the fact that it is as addicting as it is. But with time, this scenario seemed to have died its own death.
Regular Facebook users would notice that they are not getting as many updates in their news feed as they used to. People are not updating their status as often as did before, they aren’t ‘sharing’ or ‘liking’ as much as before either. And this is because Facebook has been dethroned. According to Piper Jaffrey’s semiannual teen research report, Twitter has officially taken over Facebook as the most important social networking site for youngsters. Only 23 % named Facebook as their most important social networking site, down from a high of 42 %.
So clearly, the younger demographic has fallen out of love with Facebook. But why?
Social media expert Michael McQueen, in what is described as the ‘Levi’s Effect’, said teenagers were abandoning Facebook for other social networks such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. McQueen said Levi’s jeans were a cool, young brand until parents started wearing them and the same has happened with Facebook.
Nowadays, everyone is on Facebook. Facebook has become more of a public forum for all the moms, dads and grandparents rather than a hot social network. And what about the privacy? Do we really want our lives splashed all over the net? No, we don’t. And not to forget the increasing number of lives which are being ruined due to growing cybercrime. We dare not take a risk which has long lasting effects just for the sake of “passing” our time.
Over the last few years, Facebook’s growth has been phenomenal. The world’s No.1 social networking site also sometimes back beat Google to become most visited web site in the US for an entire week at a stretch. However, the site has also lately being receiving lot of flak for its privacy policies.
Besides this, does it really help us to stay connected to our old friends? No, it doesn’t. Because what actually keeps the connections alive is picking up the phone and speaking to people or arranging to meet in person. Rashika Gupta says “I used to use Facebook extensively, but now I find it boring. There are better things like Whatsapp and Skype which help to connect better.”
Facebook has actually become boring and it’s a dangerous idea for a company which relies so much on the idle time of average people. With so many other options around Whatsapp, Twitter, Snapchat etc , Facebook has lost the cult status it once had . It got popular and big but now it’s losing momentum. It’s the same pattern always. Facebook is doomed to the same fate as Orkut.
Facebook has had its peak period. But now, it’s facing its share of downs. Could it be the beginning of the end of Facebook? What do you think? Will Facebook still be around 10 years from now?
She is a second year student pursuing Bachelor of Science in Physics (Hons.) at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. She believes that the youth of the nation must gear up to scrutinize and reform the present condition of Indian Society. She hopes that with her thoughts and ideas, she would bring some improvement in the society, no matter how small it is. Besides writing, she is also fond of composing poems. Gleeful at heart, she likes meeting new people and is always keen to learn new things. Contact her at: leo94.31july@gmail.com
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