Facebook Prods Users to Share a Bit More
Amount of new content posted has slipped, leading social network to try to prompt conversation
By DEEPA SEETHARAMAN
Nov. 2, 2015 10:18 p.m. ET
Sharing isn’t what it used to be on Facebook.
Surveys show users post less often on the social network, which relies on users for an overwhelming majority of its content. In the third quarter, market researcher GlobalWebIndex said 34% of Facebook users updated their status, and 37% shared their own photos, down from 50% and 59%, respectively, in the same period a year earlier.
Facebook users still visit the network often. Some 65% of Facebook’s 1.49 billion monthly users visited the site daily as of June. But these days, they are more likely to lurk or “like” and less likely to post a note or a picture.
That isn’t a problem today for Facebook, which makes money by showing ads to users. The company is expected to report a 36% jump in revenue when it reports third-quarter financial results Wednesday.
But it could be a problem down the road. In a 2009 paper, Facebook researchers said it was “vital” for social networks to encourage a broad range of users to contribute content.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-prods-users-to-share-a-bit-more-1446520723
