Facebook Is Taking Over Your Life
Facebook started out as a fun distraction, then it became something integral. And while it’s currently trending towards being an essential part of our lives, will it someday become inescapable? If these graphs are any indicator, then it’s very well possible.
Citi Research conducted a study of the amount of time Americans spent on Facebook. In 2007, Facebook only occupied two percent of people’s days. Fast forward to the present, and it takes up around 16 percent, good for an eightfold increase. Though unlikely, if Facebook’s increase in engagement were to continue at this rate, it would literally consume our entire lives by 2015.
And equally important, as All Things D points out, is how substantially Facebook is outpacing the other major internet players in this category. Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL sites have all been flat or dipping in the amount of time they hold visitors attention. Google’s properties show overall engagement growth, but not nearly as impressive as Facebook’s. The question is, will we come to love and accept Facebook as our central hub for everything internet? Or will they commit some Netflix-esque blunder and cause us all to flee in droves?
