Youth icon 20 years ago, Facebook has turned into parents’ haven. But, despite its old-fashioned image, the social network veteran continues to gain users from Asia to the United States.

“I’ll never forget the day I ran to the IT room to sign up for Facebook”, says Jasmine Enberg, Insider Intelligence analyst. “I had the impression that I belonged to a private club where neither my parents nor my teachers were present, and at the same time, that I belonged to a much larger universe, with students from all over the United States.”

After its creation by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow students at Harvard on February 4, 2004, Facebook rolled out to other American universities, before opening to everyone in 2006.

The social network, then a very new concept, quickly conquers the majority of Internet users. In 2023, more than three billion users opened Facebook at least once a month, which is 3% more than in 2022.

“It was a revolution,” says Jasmine Enberg. “And although Facebook is no longer cool today, whatever one may say will be little about its influence on popular culture, in politics, in our online behavior, in digital content. (…) It changed the way we communicate.”

It refers to the famous feed, where AI algorithms prioritize posts and photos that trigger shares and comments.

Facebook also contributed greatly to the phenomenon of viral content and the emergence of universally online media such as BuzzFeed.

“No alternative”

BuzzFeed shut down last year, but Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is doing just fine. In 2022 – a bad year for the Californian company – its profits reached $23 billion.

The platform “belongs to the digital landscape”explains Jasmine Enberg, especially for the millennial generation, born in the 80s and 90s. “As a result it remains irresistible to advertisers because of its reach and performance.”

Facebook is betting on highly precise ad targeting for large-scale users.

This financial model is based on personal data that has cost him numerous lawsuits and finesfrom the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 to the revelations of a whistleblower, a former employee, in 2021 who accused the company of putting profit before user safety.

But neither official condemnations nor Facebook’s increasingly old-fashioned image could reverse the trend. The social network veteran is growing at a slower pace, but growing.

“It’s like Twitter. Everyone says “I want to leave”, but no one leaves because there is no alternative.” notes Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies.

In the United States, users mainly stay for the groups that have been formed with a focus on common interests (neighbors, art or gardening enthusiasts, fans of celebrities, sports teams…), classified ads (Facebook Marketplace) or to stay in contact with certain persons.

“My Mom’s Friends”

“I use it to find clientsbecause I know my mom’s friends are on Facebook,” explains Ruby Hammer, an 18-year-old babysitter from California. “And also to find a car to buy.”

But to talk to her friends she prefers Snapchat and to upload photos, Instagram.

“Acquiring Instagram in 2012 and moving from desktop to mobile was one of the best business decisions Facebook has ever made,” says Jasmine Enberg.

From a potential threat, Instagram has become an advertiser’s second paradise and, consequently, a huge asset.

“It balances out the decline in interest, especially among young people, in Facebook. And most importantly, the company has an app that can compete with Snapchat and TikTok, which are extremely popular among teenagers.

Diversifying the group’s activities allowed innovation to continue – in the field of artificial intelligence or the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg’s dream – without altering Facebook.

The development of the pioneer network is also located in Southeast Asia, where the mobile app was once the main gateway to the Internet.

Today, more than half of Facebook users are 18 to 34 years old, according to data from Datareporter. However, real impact is difficult to measure.

“I don’t go on Facebook very much, but everything I post on Instagram automatically shows up on Facebook,” says Carolina Milanesi. “So I count as ‘active’…Maybe the numbers don’t reflect reality!”