Facebook: Analytics show the site is less favorable among teens

I remember being in my senior year of college. Graduation was swiftly approaching and so many questions remained: What’s next? Am I going to grad school? Will I be able to get a job? How am I going to pay my student loans?  With all that pressure, I also wondered how and if I was going to be able to stay in touch with all of my friends and classmates.  I mean, we were all going to go our separate ways; some of us back to our hometowns and others of us will start lives that no longer include study groups and the occasional campus party. 

I began to collect phone numbers and email addresses but the reality was that I was not likely to reach out to them on a regular basis and when I did, it was quite possible that those phone numbers and email addresses will have changed.  That was until someone asked me the question that would put all of these worries to rest:  “Are you on Facebook?”

“No… what’s that?” I responded.  While the two of us were in the library putting the finishing touches on a term paper, my friend told me to visit the site and check it out.  So I did. After spending my remaining time in the library on the site, I was hooked; so hooked that I jumped on the site again when I got home.  Since that day in 2005, Facebook has become a major part of my life. It has enabled me to keep in contact with friends and family, no matter where they are geographically. It has enabled me to share milestones in my life and reconnect with old buddies.

But a lot has changed since then. Other social media sites have emerged, becoming attractive to various demographics. Facebook began as a site exclusively for college students. High school students wanted in on the action, so Facebook expanded its exclusivity to this group.  Eventually, though, folks of all ages came to see the value in Facebook and made it a part of their lives as well.

Facebook recently revealed that analytics indicate decreased use of the social network by younger teens. I guess that’s what happened – Facebook was no longer exclusive. Not only that, teens began to notice their parents creating Facebook pages, almost by default making it not as cool as it once was.

Analytics have not only revealed that Facebook’s popularity among this demographic is deteriorating, but that Twitter is the “most important” social network to them. Analytics also show that Instagram and other lesser-known networks have double-digit increases year over year.

These analytics are important because they help brands guide their marketing and advertising decisions. They also help the networks themselves make site enhancements to better accommodate their most popular demographics or make enhancements to attract other demographics as well. Whatever they decide, it’s important for marketers not to abandon what will continue to be the biggest thing for what is projected to become the next biggest thing. Although Twitter seems to be the next biggest thing, Facebook continues to be the biggest thing, as in 2017, it is projected that 95 percent of internet users ages 12-24 will still be using Facebook, while at that time, only about one-quarter of internet users ages 12 to 17 and less than 35% of internet users ages 18 to 24 will be using Twitter.