Social Media Usage Declines

American Business Media reports that the number of Facebook users in the U.S. will only increase 13.4% this year, after 38.6% growth in 2010 and a whopping 90.3% rise in 2009.

The rate of adult Twitter user adoption has similarly begun to plateau, dropping from 293.1% growth in 2009 to 26.3% this year and still slowing.

According to a GlobalWebIndex report, social network usage growth has all but stopped among 16- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. and in a few countries usage within this already-saturated group is actually declining.

Among those who remain on Facebook, GlobalWebIndex reports, there were declines in participation in activities like messaging with friends, sending digital gifts, installing applications and joining groups between July 2009 and June 2011. The activities on the wane are decreasing faster in the U.S. than worldwide, and are often decreasing even further among college-educated U.S. users under the age of 30. ♦