2m Britons Leave Facebook In Six Months

It seems that some two million Britons have decided to take a long break from Facebook (or leave it for good) in the past six months, at least according to a report from social media monitoring expert SocialBakers.

The UK was among the countries that recorded a fall in the number of its active Facebook users in the last six months, seeing it decline by 4.55%, or by about 1.4 million people. Currently, about 31 million UK users log on to the social media platform each month, which means that about 50% of the country’s population is now on Facebook.

During the same period, a total of 8.6 million Americans shunned the platform. Major markets such as France and Germany also saw more people stay away from the channel.

Britons aged between 25 and 34 are the most active on Facebook, making up around 7.9 million of the total, followed by younger users in the 18-24 age group. The UK is now Facebook’s seventh most developed market, preceded by the US, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey.

Despite the decline in user numbers, 60% of questions asked by consumers to brands on Facebook now receive responses, which implies that the medium is gaining importance among companies, SocialBakers noted in a previous report. Many consumers now lack the time or patience to seek customer advice by phone or e-mail and find Facebook communication the easiest and most convenient approach to reach a company. Brands are apparently getting to grips with the trend and are starting to realise the importance of using Facebook for social customer service, the researcher said.