Facebook is here to stay (obvs)

Some say that everyone’s leaving Facebook, no one is using it anymore, Facebook is so last year. Personally I’m not too sure, according to recent stats from comScore, Facebook usage accounts roughly for nearly 19% of all digital media time spent on social media across mobile and desktop – with figures like these who can argue with that?  

The New comScore’s 2016 U.S. Cross-Platform study explores in depth the future of social media and how mobile social has become in recent years. The study shows that social networking accounts for 1 out of 5 total minutes spent online across mobile apps and desktops, with a massive 80% of all social media time spent on mobile devices. 
 

The Rise In Mobile

With the rise in mobile, the smartphone app has become the most popular access point for people using social media, quickly taking over usage on desktop. Digital media usage overall is constantly increasing and continues to grow, mostly driven by mobile, in particular by the smartphone. 

With this development in how we consume social, Facebook leads the way. According to the findings of the survey, Facebook ranked first in the top 10 Mobile Apps for unique audience visitors, with Facebook messenger coming in at number two. Google sites remain the number one web property but Facebook comes in at close second with roughly 219mm visitors. 
 

Don't Underestimate The Power Of Facebook

Overall usage of the social network accounts for 1 in every 6 minutes spent in total online and more than 1 in 5 minutes spent in total on mobile. The survey showed that the popular platform is the number one digital media property spent by time, out performing particularly on mobile. For me this really shows how popular Facebook is and continues to be amongst visitors. 

Compared to other networks and social brands, Facebook dominates in engagement across all ages and demographics, whilst Snapchat is somewhat skewed, with a large part of their demographic under the age of 34.  Although for Snapchat this can be a unique selling point in reaching out to a younger audience, in terms of a wider and varied audience Facebook leads the ranks, leading in both audience size and engagement across all ages including millennials. 

For me this study really highlights how quickly social is increasing, particularly when it comes to mobile and considering Facebook is now one of the older social media platforms, it still leads the way in engagement and visitors. 

Facebook is where we go to stay in touch with friends, share photos, find out the latest trending YouTube video, even what people are eating for their lunch – we all love a good edited lunchtime snap. Not only that but it can be a powerful tool for companies trying to raise their brand awareness and share great and relevant content with its current and prospected users. With Facebook being so far ahead in all areas of engagement and development, I do believe Facebook is here to stay.

This article first appeared on the IDM blog