TechCrunch reported that Facebook has struggled to maintain its position in the Top 10 leading apps on the US App Store this year.
As young consumers are gradually switching to experiencing newer social networks such as TikTok or recently BeReal, the blue app of technology giant Meta has gradually lost its appeal in the top rankings of the App Store.
alarming figures
According to statistics, in 2021, Facebook only fell out of the Top 10 free iPhone apps in the US 7 times.
However, this number has increased to 97 times in 2022 - a sign that Facebook may be losing its position as emerging applications continue to penetrate deep into the top of the App Store.
Facebook's downtime this year has been largely focused on April, May and June. April was Facebook's worst month to date as the app's ranking dropped to 30 on April 18 and then dropped to 44 on April 21.
Notably, this is the time when the BeReal app is gradually climbing the top of the App Store's chart and entering the Top 5. Currently, BeReal is the number 1 non-zing app on the App Store in the US.
In recent years, Facebook has not often maintained a solid position in the Top 10.
In addition, being in the Top 10 applications is just a way to measure the success of an application - it is an indicator of a company's ability to attract new users, not the ability to maintain attraction to existing users.
On that front, Facebook has not really declined. According to data.ai's analysis, Facebook is still considered the top application when considering the number of monthly active users.
However, the failure to inspire a new generation of users is something the company is concerned about and Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself has previously frankly admitted.
Facebook seeks to hold on to users
Last fall, Mark Zuckerberg informed investors that the company was confined on resources to try to bring the best experiences to young users.
He also admitted that this change could take years, not months, to complete, especially at a time when the company is betting billions of dollars on the Metaverse digital universe - a virtual reality version of the Internet that Facebook expects will be a turning point in the future.
Meta was even aware of the problems of teen users before the company saw signs of decline clearly reflected in the top app rankings.
Last October, Bloomberg reported that Facebook had compiled internal reports and showed that the "use time" index of US adolescents' apps on Facebook had decreased by 16% compared to the same period as in March 2021.
In February 2022, the company reported to Facebook investors that for the first time in history, the app saw a decline in the number of active daily users.
While the number of active daily users increased slightly in the following quarters, the platform continued to see monthly losses after the ban in Russia - a signal that market losses were also the cause of Facebook's growth slowdown.
As of the most recent quarter, Facebook's daily active users have increased to 1.97 billion compared to 1.929 billion reported in February.
Last year, Meta-owned apps took all four of the top spots in monthly active users worldwide.
According to data.ai's annual report "State of Mobile", Facebook is still the No. 1 app, followed by WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram - far behind TikTok in 6th place.
In the last quarter, Facebook once again continued to rise in the first place, but was followed by Messenger, Amazon, Instagram. TikTok has risen to 5th place.
However, the numbers from most Meta apps, especially Facebook, are maintained by older adults combined with strong use in both large and emerging internet markets.
Currently, it seems that what users are doing is finding alternatives to the Facebook application, powered by recommendation tools, such as TikTok, BeReal or Snapchat.
