Facebook Lost Users in the U.S. & Canada in May

Facebook?s growth has become a thing of legend, but a recent report suggests it may have lost ground in parts of North America. The world?s largest social network soared past its competitors to reach half a billion users in July 2010, and fueled by strong international growth, it?s poised to reach 700 million users within weeks.

However, according to data from Inside Facebook, Facebook?s growth in April and May 2011 slowed considerably. It gained 11.8 million new users in May, and 13.9 million in April ? compared to a typical month in the last year when it grew by at least 20 million users.

In May, Facebook gained more than 1 million users in several countries, including Mexico, India, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. However, it lost approximately 6 million users in the United States and 1.5 million in Canada ? a first for the company in the past year ? which contributed to the decrease in overall growth.

Traffic data, especially coming from a third-party source, can be skewed for a number of reasons, but if Facebook?s growth has slowed down in two consecutive months (and if the trend continues), it might be a significant pointer for the company?s future. In 2008 Facebook started growing like a weed, surpassing expectations month after month, but at some point this tremendous growth will have to slow, especially in the most saturated markets like the U.S. and Canada.

Has that moment arrived? It?s possible, but we cannot be sure just yet. We?ve reached out to Facebook for a comment on the data, and will update the post when we learn more.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/uUnslh0u0wc/

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