A recent study from the Pew Research Center shows that 61 percent of current Facebook users have taken a break from using the site at one time or another, and 20 percent of ex-Facebook users do not plan on going back.

An average of 67 percent of American adults have a Facebook account, making it the most popular social networking sites in America. With more than 1 billion users, Facebook is on the “best of” list of entertainment media put out by Entertainment Weekly. But the decrease in active users seems to show a growing disenchantment with the site.

Brett McCracken, Biola’s social media manager, explained his perspective on why Facebook use seems to be on the downward slope.

Advertising a reason for growing frustration

“[One reason people leave] is advertising, how much advertisers and marketers have taken hold of Facebook,” he said. “Anytime that happens, you will find users saying, ‘I don’t need this, I don’t need to be sold anything,’ so they are going to leave and go to another social media site where they’re not bombarded.” 

Despite the growing frustration with Facebook ads, some students are continuing to use it. Facebook pages, Instagram and Twitter played a large part in promoting this year’s Associated Students and Student Missionary Union campaigns.

“I mainly use Facebook to keep updated on people in my life whether close friends or people from high school. It’s a good way for me to keep on contact with people I don’t see on a regular basis,” said junior liberal studies major Katie Kniss.

Although Kniss’ main purpose in using Facebook is to network with people she can’t see on a regular basis, she does appreciate the ads or invites to events to see what’s happening on campus.

Junior humanities major Erin Whitlow, an ex-Facebook user who quit the site at the beginning of the year, said the ads were a major contributor to her decision.

“I didn't like [the ads] at all, that was probably one of the things that made me most unhappy about Facebook,” she said. “For that to be integrated into something I mostly use for personal use felt like a big imposition.”

Many Biola students plan to remain on social network

She would go on to Facebook with the intention of getting family updates from Louisiana, only to be distracted by half of the page being filled with ads.  

Teri Clemons, a professor in the communication science and disorders department, has noticed the shift from Facebook as a social networking site into an advertisement arena.

“Ads on the side aren't as bothersome to me, but now that they have included them in your news feed, I found those to be very irritating,” she said.

She has no plans to stop using it, but she does mention that if the ads increase she might consider.

“If another avenue came up similar to Facebook without ads, I might consider switching,” she said.