Facebook lost millions of users in the countries where it is most popular, according to an analysis by an independent data firm. The Guardian reports that the social media website may have peaked in the United States and Europe.
Last month, 6 million American users and 1.4 million British users left Facebook; both numbers are roughly 4 percent of Facebook’s total users in the U.S. and U.K. According to the analysis firm SocialBakers, other European countries, Japan, and Canada also saw decreases. Meanwhile, the number of users in South America and India grew over the same time period.
Analysts said the reason for the shrinking number of users in the U.S. and Europe is because “most people who want to sign up for Facebook have already done it.” Developing countries, on the other hand, still have plenty of room for growth.
“Is Facebook going to go the way of Myspace?” asked one social-media analsyst. ”The risk is relatively small, but that is not to say it isn’t there.”