Facebook app loses a quarter of its American users

As an app developer, you might take comfort in the fact that even the biggest brands in the world get it wrong and lose users sometimes! This is the case currently for Facebook with new research saying that the social media platform has lots more than a quarter of its app user base.

The research was carried out by the highly regarded Pew Research Centre and made a number of interesting discoveries. The most worrying trend to be unearthed for the social network is that 26% of American users say they have deleted the Facebook app from the smartphone within the last 12 months.

Users reframe relationship with Facebook amid app removal

The loss of users for the Facebook app is part of a wider trend which Pew Research Centre describes as users ‘reframing’ their relationship with the social network. In addition to deleting the app entirely, 42% say they have avoided using Facebook for a period of several weeks or more and 54% have adjusted privacy settings.

The survey was conducted between May and June of this year, soon after the data breach scandal left the social media platform reeling. While Facebook has long since been the world’s largest social network, the fact that so many of its users are deleting the app is likely a cause for concern – and also shows that no matter how big you are, or how many downloads or active users your app generates, it’s never a given that you’ll continue to engage that audience.

Who’s actually deleting the Facebook app?

In addition to the figures themselves, the research also delves deeper into the demographic of those deleting the app. The data shows that the majority of those who have removed the Facebook app from their mobile device tend to be in the younger age bracket – in fact 49% of this group are aged 18-29. This is four times as many as older users, (65 years old+) who also say they have deleted the Facebook app from their device.

There are also more younger Facebook users adjusting their privacy settings than older, with 64% of 18-29 year olds changing their privacy controls in the last 12 months. Equal numbers of younger and older users have taken a prolonged break from the network, suggesting app user figures could be down month-on-month too.