Are Facebook updates simply
maddening members?

Following reports that Facebook suffered a 5 percent decline in the UK, comes news that the US site is also seeing a slump.

According to Hitwise, Facebook's share of US visits was down 27 percent for the week ending Feb. 23, 2008, having hit a peak in the week ending Dec. 29, 2007.

The decline may be seasonal. Facing a grim economic atmosphere, user worries about disseminating personal information may also be affecting Facebook.

Falling traffic aside, Hitwise found the average length of visits increased to nearly 21.5 minutes, up 73 percent from February '07.

And the Times observes Facebook's audience is still 712 percent higher than a year ago, and nine percent higher than three months past.

The steady upswing in traffic over 2007 was due to well-received transitions on the site, including Facebook's decision to open its back-end to developers and broaden the network beyond college students.

Recent changes have not been so easily inculcated. In November, Facebook users revolted when the site began publishing their third-party shopping details through Beacon.