Social media giant Facebook has seen its daily active users (DAUs) drop for the first time in its 18-year history.
Facebook's parent company Meta Networks says DAUs fell to 1.929bn in the three months to the end of December, compared to 1.930bn in the previous quarter. The firm also warned of slowing revenue growth in the face of competition from rivals like TikTok and YouTube, while advertisers are also cutting spending. Meta's shares slumped by more than 20% in after-hours trading in New York. The slide in Meta's share price wiped around $200bn (£147.5bn) off the company's stock market value. Shares in other social media platforms, including Twitter, Snap and Pinterest, also fell sharply in extended trading.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the firm's sales growth had been hurt as audiences, especially younger users, had left for rivals. Meta, which owns the world's second biggest digital advertising platform after Google, also said it had been hit by privacy changes on Apple's operating system.
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