With the continuing advent of social media networking and popular social media apps, Facebook is seeing a significant decline in popularity. New apps such as Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Twitter and others, are rivaling Facebook in the social media market, as Facebook now finds itself dropping in popularity and losing users due to the increase in competition.
Facebook’s long-stand atop the social media kingdom was very impressive, but the vast majority of Facebook users are the younger generation who tend to be more trendy and frequently get bored with the same app after a while and look to other, newer apps.
“I still check Facebook every once in a while, but it is more of a hassle than Instagram. Not as many people go on it anymore. The posts on Instagram are easier and more fun to look at,” said Brittany Dyer, a freshman psychology major from California.
Students here at BYU-Hawaii have noticed the significant drop in Facebook’s popularity as well, although the majority of students still have an active account. “Twitter and Instagram are more fun. I still use Facebook, but only once or twice a week,” said freshman Andrew Parsons, an exercise science major from Georgia, “Facebook has too many advertisements now, the advertisements are taking over the pages.”
Parsons and other BYUH students find themselves looking at their accounts less and less, only using Facebook to see how old friends are doing. Students are also making fewer and fewer posts.
However, on campus, there are still several students that still use Facebook, sometimes more often than they did before.
Being in Hawaii and far away from many students’ homelands, Facebook can give them the chance to stay in touch with family and friends despite the distance. “I use Facebook more now than I did when I was home because I am so far away from family and friends. It’s my main mean of communication with them,” said Kylie Petersen, an undeclared freshman from Utah.