Facebook use on the decline, study suggests

If all you got was the token "Happy Birthday!" greeting on your Facebook wall for your birthday this year (and not a virtual gift, for instance), a new study on Facebook use suggests that you are not alone. In a study of global Facebook usage from July 2009 to June 2011 as reported by technology blog Mashable, the latest data from Global Web Index reveals that giving virtual gifts on Facebook declined 12.9 percent in the US and 7.5 percent worldwide during the period. It should be noted, however, that Facebook completely discontinued its virtual gifting service some time within the study's period, which could explain the decline. That notwithstanding, the study noted that other activities on Facebook suffered a similar decline, including: sending a message to friends (down 7.4 percent globally); searching for new contacts (4.5 percent); installing an application (3.1 percent); and instant messaging (1.5 percent). "The report found only one significant increase in Facebook activity: uploading videos, which was up 5% in the U.S. and 7.6% worldwide," the Mashable report said. A representative from Facebook, who refused to be identified, was quoted as saying that such conclusions are incorrect either because of the limited scope of the study or the seasonal factors which affect social networking usage. "In general, I would say that we do see from time to time, stories about Facebook losing engagement in one region or another," the representative said. “[But] Facebook is very pleased with growth overall and with the way people are engaged with the site," she added. Despite this downward global trend, Facebook remains to be the most visited site in the Philippines as it makes up about 7 percent of global pageviews, according to web analytics site Alexa. There are reportedly 26 million Facebook users in the Philippines, or about 88 percent of the country's online population, earning the country the title of "social networking capital of the world." — TJD, GMA News