It has become a central part of every day life for tens of millions of us in the UK – and hundreds of millions globally. We use Facebook to chat to friends, share embarrassing photographs and some use it to stalk former lovers. Some struggle to remember life before Facebook, so ingrained is the social media network.

Around the world, well over 600m people have signed up. Its founder, the world's youngest billionaire 27-year old Mark Zuckerberg, claims it will soon have 1bn members.

Until just a few weeks ago, it looked like Facebook was sailing towards that milestone. Now, suddenly, we have evidence the network’s phenomenal growth is slowing in this part of the world, and, crucially, more and more members are logging off for good.

Here in the UK, the number of people using Facebook has dropped for the second month in a row, with 100,000 leaving the site, or committing Facebook suicide. It’s a trend replicated in other western countries although in India it’s on the march. 

So has Facebook fatigue finally set in for Brits? “It doesn’t look good at the moment,” says Dr Marie Griffiths, a lecturer in information services at the University of Salford. “There are signs it is slowly on the wane.

“It may have reached saturation point, and frankly now if you are not on Facebook that actually makes you a more interesting person.”

There are whispers in geek circles the network, which inspired an Oscar-winning film and played a key role in the Arab Spring uprisings, could be about to go the way of other once great but now largely forgotten networks like Friends Reunited and Myspace.

“You have to look at these things in context,” says Manchester-based online PR consultant Leanne Forshaw Jones. “You can’t scoff at 600m users.

“If this is the beginning of the end,  it will be a very slow decline. It’s still an incredibly powerful company, with a very forward-thinking approach.”
Facebook does have one advantage in its battle to retain users. The network’s whizz-kids have made it difficult to leave.
 
“If you want to delete your account you have to go through lots of hoops,” says Marie. “It’s a tortuous process, and there is no way of authenticating if your account has been deleted.

“You can deactivate it, but it remains in place. And the moment you log back on, it is instantly reactivated. Basically, once you’re on Facebook, you’re on Facebook.”

People opting to leave the network may be surprised at how laborious the process is. But some see that as part of the deal in the digital age.

“If you withdraw, they will keep your data,” says Leanne. “It would be naive to think your whole legacy would disappear if you delete your account. When you put something online or do something on the internet, that legacy will remain. That’s just a fact of the online world.”

This may be what Facebook’s users are slowly realising and could explain why people are choosing to close down their accounts.

“There’s a lot of evidence to show what you put on Facebook can really come back to haunt you,” says Marie. “We warn our students about this.

“If you’re applying for a job as a teacher at a Catholic school, it’s not a good idea to have drunken photos of you on your Facebook account.

“I think the first generation of Facebook users are starting to realise this. They are moving away from it as they grow up and put their partying days behind them. They don’t want to harm their prospects as they move into their professional careers.”

That could explain the success of the networking site Linkedin, which has exploded in popularity. Rather than socialising online with friends, it lets users connect with business contacts, in a professional manner.

“I think what will happen is people will have two separate online networking accounts, one for professional purposes and one for personal use,” says Marie. “It’s probably a good idea to keep the two separate.”

Concerns over privacy and security, and the success of other networks, are challenging the dominance of Facebook. But the company is fighting back.

“It’s not dead yet,” says Leanne. “Its position is being diluted but it's still by far the biggest player.

“It's looking at ways to change and offer new innovations to keep its marketplace. For example, it's trying to become a search engine.”

Ironically, at the same time, the world's biggest search engine, Google, wants to create its own social network. Another threat to Facebook.

“It was inevitable its power and popularity would be diluted. But if it does change and remain interesting to its users, it will stay strong,” Leanne says.

“But I doubt in ten years it will still be the dominant player, and by then it could be in the Myspace position. And that's not a good place to be.”

Facebook grew big, fast. For many people, it is a fact of life. But in the fast-moving and fickle world of online technology, it seems there is no such thing as too big to fail.

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