It looks like the popularity of Facebook and Instagram are finally waning. Well, at least according to the latest download trend data provided by the Bank of America that shows a 13% year over year decline in the downloads of Facebook and Instagram mobile apps.
The download numbers were based on SensorTower data which tracked down 3% in Q3 2019 as compared with download data in Q2. The analysis also shows that Instagram downloads are better than Facebook, but that they too are falling. Facebook downloads went down by 9% year over year and 15% in Q3 so far. On the other hand, Instagram downloads were down by 4% year over year.
The significant shift in the download numbers of both mobile apps is very noticeable, especially when compared with download numbers over the same period last year. Facebook downloads were up by 3% year over year by the third quarter of last year. The analyst also noted that Facebook’s mobile app has been tracking down by 8% quarterly. On Monday, Facebook’s shares were slightly down as well.
The question now, which the report did not specify, is the reason why Facebook and Instagram downloads are declining. It’s not that social media apps are waning down as a whole. The report says that Twitter, Snap, and Pinterest all have increased downloads in the third quarter.
Could this be the result of various scandals and issues faced by Facebook in recent months? Facebook is repeatedly in the news for constant privacy and security violations and has been heavily criticized for censorship and banning people from their platform. Just within the last month Facebook was caught having left the phone numbers of millions of users on an insecure server.
The answer on privacy would vary and depends on how much Facebook and Instagram users are tracking the controversies. Another reason could be the proliferation of other social media apps which is widely used by the younger users, such as TikTok.
