New figures have shown that Facebook may not be as popular as it once was in the UK.
Research firm Nielsen Online found that Facebook declined for the first time in users after a 17-month increase from 8.9 million users in December to 8.5 million last month.

MySpace UK also saw a decrease in its users from 5.3 million to 5.1 million.

Some experts believe the Facebook decline was due to the credibility issues of certain high-profile users such as actress Sienna Miller or simply a drop in seasonal numbers.

Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst at Nielsen Online, said: “Just as one swallow does not make a summer, one month of falling audiences does not spell the decline of Facebook or social networking.”

Point Topic said that new sites will increase the variety of social networking sites even though Facebook and MySpace make up over 80 per cent of the market.

Originally posted 2008-02-25 11:04:08.