In the fourth quarter of 2020, Facebook lost daily active users in the United States and Canada, though both total users and average revenue per user grew, Reclaim the Net reported.
American and Canadian daily active users—people who log onto the platform every day—fell from 196 million in the third quarter of 2020 to 195 million in the fourth quarter, according to Facebook’s earnings presentation.
Daily active users grew steadily in 2019 from 186 to 190 million, and then spiked to 198 million halfway through 2020 as the tyrannical reaction to the coronavirus forced people indoors.
Some combination of blatant conservative censorship on Facebook and the easing of coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions has freed Americans and Canadians from blue-light-driven social media scrolling.
The decline to 195 million daily active users does not yet take into account the social media purge that followed the Capitol Hill protest, the illegitimate installation of the Biden regime, and the growing domestic war on conservatives—who have been labeled white supremacists.
Monthly active users in the United States and Canada also grew in the fourth quarter, from 255 to 258 million.
Despite this encouraging decline in America and Canada, Facebook’s growth in daily active users and monthly active users continues to come form Asia–Pacific peoples.
In Asia–Pacific countries, there was a 17-million person growth in daily users and a 33-million person growth in monthly users.
For lovers of free speech and opponents of Big Tech censorship, the picture looks less promising.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Facebook’s revenue growth continued to come predominantly from users in the United States and Canada as well as Europe to a lesser extent.
Facebook’s earnings per American and Canadian user spiked from $39.63 in the third quarter to $53.56 in the fourth quarter, by far the highest dollar amount per user for any region.
European earnings per user grew from $12.41 to $16.87.
Facebook’s earnings per user worldwide jumped from $7.89 to $10.14.
Twitter also reported solid results for the last three months of 2020, capping what CEO Jack Dorsey called “an extraordinary year” for the platform.
New users signed on in large numbers to follow the world’s events in real time despite the scandal that erupted over its censorship of conservatives, including President Donald Trump.
Twitter’s decision to permanently ban Trump following the Jan. 6 US Capitol uprising will not be reflected until the Q1 earnings for this year are reported around April.
That led to the loss of billions in stock value, although the company made no note of the recent development while trying to paint a rosy picture of its growth.
The San Francisco-based company earned $222.1 million, or 27 cents per share, in the October-December period. That was up 87% from $118.8 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue grew 28% to $1.29 billion from $1 billion.
Twitter had 192 million daily users, on average, in the third quarter, up 27% year-over-year. Twitter does not disclose monthly user figures.
The company’s shares climbed $1.23, or 2%, to $61.10 in after-hours trading after the results came out. The stock had closed up $1.71, or 2.9%, at $59.87.
Despite the anticipated falloff in the next quarter from Twitter’s growing alienation of its user-base, EMarketer analyst Nazmul Islam that advertising revenue should remain strong as the company continues to invest in ad infrastructure.
Twitter said it expects 2021 revenue to grow faster than expenses—meaning it would turn a profit—but did not give more specific guidance.
It announced last year that it would allow employees to work from home permanently, meaning the cost-savings in overhead may have played a role.
Like Facebook, it also is likely hoping to compensate for its American losses by continuing to tap into other markets, such as Asia. But warning signs lay ahead as Twitter has now begun censoring users in one of the world’s most populous countries—India—at the behest of its IT ministry.
New privacy safeguards from a frequent co-conspirator in the Silicon Valley technocracy might also undermine social media growth in 2021.
Apple is preparing to roll out a new privacy control in the early spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people, which could hurt companies that rely on tracking people to show personalized advertisements—like Facebook and Twitter.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
