If you feel like you're generally spending less time on Facebook lately, you're probably right.

According to a new report from eMarketer shared by Mashable, engagement on Facebook has undergone a sharp decline and may be flatlining in the foreseeable future.

In the report, the data shows that the daily time spent on Facebook in the US declined by an average of 3 minutes, with most users spending around 37 minutes on Facebook in 2018 instead of a reported 41 minutes the year before.

The decline in interest could be a result of changes to Facebook’s News Feed over the last year, according to eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

The report also suggests that Facebook’s decision to not disclose metrics on the main app and the platform’s shift towards private interactions could be contributing to a decline in numbers.

Whether interactions on Facebook will once again change in 2019 and 2020 is anyone’s guess, especially if the company implements more changes to the platform that might shift users away to other social media.

Luckily for the company, engagement on Instagram is on the rise. But it will be a while before Instagram reaches the numbers as Facebook has in previous years.

One step forward

Facebook is slowly making moves to improve privacy and functionality. At this year's F8 conference, the company unveiled a fresh new design and addressed some issues with its other platforms, including Instagram and Whatsapp.

However, while all of these changes are positive, Facebook is still under fire for huge breaches of privacy and expects to be fined around $5 billion by the FTC. The investigation of Facebook was opened by the FTC after the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018.