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Most people I know are getting off of Facebook, or were never on it. The only people I know who are really still active are people using it to market themselves

Most people I know are getting off of Facebook, or were never on it. The only people I know who are really still active are people using it to market themselves/their business, and are not there because they care about Facebook, but because they want to be findable there (and everywhere). I guess I'm old, but I find that email is great for sending baby pics to friends and family, and for planning things.

ucosty 8y ago
I had this problem recently, I wanted to get in contact with an old friend I hadn't seen in years. Because it had been so long I no longer had a current phone number or email address. At this stage we didn't even live in the same country as each other. Solving this problem, or problems like it, might go a long way to reducing the appeal of Facebook.
- sdenton4 8y ago
  That's exactly why I joined Facebook in the first place...
neurobashing 8y ago
I feel you but a quick search finds "As of the third quarter of 2018, Facebook had 2.27 billion monthly active users" so solve for that, not your dozen or so social group.
- fullshark 8y ago
  A huge percentage are browsing but not posting anymore I would guess.
scarface74 8y ago
Well anecdotally in your small social group that may be true. But Facebook has 2.27 Billion active users...
- hazeii 8y ago
  ...for a certain value of 'active' (do they say how it's defined?) My experience of internet companies has generally been that user figures are somewhat exaggerated (to put it politely).
  - scarface74 8y ago
    No matter how you define “active”, there is no indication that in the aggregate people are fleeing Facebook - no matter if a few anecdotes are posted on HN.
    - Spooky23 8y ago
      By Facebook’s generous standards, active users have been flat for a year or more.
nradov 8y ago
Email is such a failure for sending family pictures. My relatives keep changing their addresses without telling anyone, and many email providers have small message size limits so if you attach several pictures then the message may bounce or just not get delivered. For all its faults, Facebook is a much more reliable and usable delivery channel.

ucosty 8y ago

I had this problem recently, I wanted to get in contact with an old friend I hadn't seen in years. Because it had been so long I no longer had a current phone number or email address. At this stage we didn't even live in the same country as each other. Solving this problem, or problems like it, might go a long way to reducing the appeal of Facebook.

sdenton4 8y ago
That's exactly why I joined Facebook in the first place...

neurobashing 8y ago

I feel you but a quick search finds "As of the third quarter of 2018, Facebook had 2.27 billion monthly active users" so solve for that, not your dozen or so social group.

fullshark 8y ago
A huge percentage are browsing but not posting anymore I would guess.

scarface74 8y ago

Well anecdotally in your small social group that may be true. But Facebook has 2.27 Billion active users...

hazeii 8y ago
...for a certain value of 'active' (do they say how it's defined?) My experience of internet companies has generally been that user figures are somewhat exaggerated (to put it politely).
- scarface74 8y ago
  No matter how you define “active”, there is no indication that in the aggregate people are fleeing Facebook - no matter if a few anecdotes are posted on HN.
  - Spooky23 8y ago
    By Facebook’s generous standards, active users have been flat for a year or more.

nradov 8y ago

Email is such a failure for sending family pictures. My relatives keep changing their addresses without telling anyone, and many email providers have small message size limits so if you attach several pictures then the message may bounce or just not get delivered. For all its faults, Facebook is a much more reliable and usable delivery channel.