NY Times columnist: ‘TikTok is eating Instagram’s lunch right now’

It’s been a rough few weeks for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), especially after the whistle-blower incident that pushed the stock down more than 10% from its high in early September.

To add to it, NY Times columnist Kevin Roose touched on the possibility this afternoon that Facebook, much like many other social networks in the past, could also be “competed out of existence” some day.

Other social networks are stealing market share

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Facebook’s internal research suggests the daily use of Facebook among teenagers in the U.S. will plummet another 45% by 2023. To that end, Roose said on CNBC’s “TechCheck”:

There’s a strong case to be made that TikTok is eating Instagram’s lunch right now. Younger users, in particular, are spending way more time on TikTok than on Instagram and posting way more original content. That is definitely a challenge for Facebook.

According to Roose, Facebook has so far succeeded in keeping its users on its ecosystem via acquisitions. But the regulatory environment of today, he added, won’t let it bring another popular social network under its umbrella anymore.  

Financial strength might not be enough for FB

The technology columnist for the New York Times agrees that Facebook was still a strong company “financially” but said it was the other indicators that were starting to make the executives more nervous.

The thing that’s bothering people at Facebook is that they don’t feel like they have any wind in their sales. Several top executives have left in the past couple of months. Their recruiters are having a hard time getting called back. It’s just not a very popular place to be right now.

The recent sell-off has brought Facebook’s market cap below the $1.0 trillion mark again.