NEW YORK – Too much drama, boredom and scads of irrelevant information are just some of the reasons Facebook users cite for taking a break from the world’s biggest social networking site for weeks at a time, according to a new study.
A report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project found that some 61 percent of Facebook users had taken a hiatus of at least several weeks for myriad reasons, whether they were weary from an onslaught of gossip or, for the more pious, the arrival of Lent.
Yet the use of Facebook, whether constant or not, is pervasive in the United States. Of the American adults who use the Internet, 67 percent are on Facebook, Pew found, compared with 20 percent who use LinkedIn and 16 percent who are on Twitter.
But users do come and go, some temporarily, and some for good. Seven percent of Internet users said they used Facebook at one point but no longer do. By its own count, Facebook Inc. has 1.06 billion users worldwide who check in at least once a month. This includes millions of duplicate and fake accounts. More than 150 million users are in the U.S.
The largest slice of users, 20 percent, said they were simply too busy with their own lives to follow the constant stream of status updates, George Takei quotes and baby photos.
Privacy and security concerns, which have received plenty of media coverage, were low on the list. Only 4 percent of people gave these reasons, combined with concerns about ads and spam, as their “Facebook vacation” motivation.