Tumblr, Snapchat Growing Much Faster Than Facebook

The growth of Tumblr and Snapchat is far outpacing Facebook's growth, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Global Web Index.



With approximately 1.35 billion users, almost 19 percent of the global population, Facebook is still the largest social network by a wide margin. Current growth is a trickle, though, so it's possible the site has reached its apex.



The report found that Tumblr's active user base grew 120 percent in the past six months, while Facebook's grew only a measly 2 percent. Image sharing network Pinterest nabbed the top spot in overall user growth during the same period. Pinterest's base expanded 57 percent; Facebook grew only 6 percent.



Probably the most shocking revelation of the report is that even Google+ is growing faster than Facebook.



Snapchat is the fastest-growing social app, expanding 56 percent over the same period.



Facebook's strategy of dividing up the main app into smaller standalone apps seems to be working at least as a growth driver. Facebook Messenger and Instagram – bought by Facebook last year – were the second and third fastest-growing social apps, respectively. WhatsApp – also owned by Facebook – is just a little further down the list, while the Facebook app just barely made the top 15.



A more stressful takeaway for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is that GWI found that 64 percent of teens surveyed, aged 16 - 19, say they are using the social network less than they used to, adding credence to fears voiced by investors for several years.



However, researchers are quick to point out Facebook is far from a teenage desert.



"Teens haven't left Facebook, they're just interacting with it less frequently and more passively than in the past," said Jason Mander, head of trends at GWI and author of the report, about the survey of almost 12,500 Facebook users in the United States and United Kingdom. "And Facebook's ad-based profits are dependent on it being able to target its users accurately – something which is not jeopardized by these findings."



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