Active daily Facebook users up again after a first-ever decline

The number of active daily Facebook users grew to 1.96 billion in the first three months of 2022, parent company Meta said on Wednesday.

The growth marks a turnaround from last year when the social network reported a decline in user growth for the first time.

Its stock price has dropped nearly half since executives announced the cut in February, wiping billions off its market value. However, the shares rebounded 13 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday, following recent gains.

“More people use our services today than ever before,” said Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in 2004, adding that he is proud of how our products serve people all over the world.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s revenue growth is at its slowest in a decade. Revenues were only 7% higher in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year, totaling $27.9 billion.

Businesses are cutting back on advertising, according to analysts, as they deal with rising costs, new competition from newer platforms like TikTok and Amazon, and economic uncertainty stemming in part from the Ukraine conflict.

To compete with TikTok, Zuckerberg said the company was investing in its video “Reels” and expected ad sales to catch up. Meta also deals with Apple’s new privacy rules, making it more challenging to target advertisements. According to the company, the changes could cost it $10 billion in lost sales. The company predicted revenue of $28 billion to $30 billion in the coming months, which was lower than analyst expectations.