Facebook, Bebo and MySpace on the slide

Is social networking starting to go out of fashion? This is the question being raised by the latest research into user numbers of the market leaders including Facebook and MySpace.

Data released by online analytics specialists Nielsen NetRatings has revealed that market leader Facebook has experienced a five per cent fall in visitor numbers between December 2007 and January 2008. This is the first fall in its traffic for 17 months.

Debate that this might be more than just a blip have been fuelled by the news that rival MySpace has also suffered a 14 per cent fall in traffic between October 2007 and January 2008, while British social networking upstart Bebo was down eight per cent over the same period.

So, should we be worried about further decline in the social networking or the impact of changing fads and fashions, or are there legitimate explanations for the poor January traffic?

The most likely explanation is that IT departments are finally taking a hard line on access to social networking services, while other are simply rejecting use of such services, concerned about lost productivity, security implications, and all the wasted bandwidth that companies are paying for.

IT PRO reported in August that that eight out of ten firms with internet filters are taking steps to block Facebook.

There is also the holiday factor, with staffing levels dropping over December as people take time off for Christmas and the New Year.

"Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one month of falling audiences doesn't spell the decline of Facebook or social networking," Nielsen's analyst Alex Burmaster told The Daily Telegraph.

MySpace is currently at the centre of speculation that it may be used in a deal between News Corporation and Yahoo to scupper the takeover advances of Microsoft, while Facebook recently sold a 1.6 per cent stake to the Windows maker for $240 million (£120 million).

(Additional reporting by Chris Green)

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