Facebook may have a large number of active users which make it the largest social network in the world, but that doesn’t mean everybody gets their social fix from Facebook first.
A new Pew study spells trouble for Facebook, as it reveals teens don’t really do Facebook anymore. Not as they used to. Instead, they go to YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.
As Slate points out, much has changed since Pew’s previous study on the same matter.
Back in 2015, Facebook was the undisputed king of the charts, with 71% teenagers aged 13 to 17 said they use it. Instagram, also a Facebook property, was second with 52% and Snapchat came in third with 41%. YouTube wasn’t even in that top, and one could easily argue that YouTube isn’t really a social network, albeit it does bring a social element to the table.
Three years later, US teens say they use YouTube (85%), Instagram (72%), and Snapchat (69%) the most. Facebook dropped on fourth place with 51%.
When asked what platform they use more often, 32% said YouTube, while 35% said Snapchat. Instagram and Facebook scored 15% and 10%, respectively.
The study does not include apps like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger, which all count as social apps.
However, the conclusion is pretty clear, teens do not like Facebook as much as they used to, and this can’t be good news to Facebook. The more time they spend on other services, including Facebook’s own properties and services Facebook is desperately trying to clone, the more they get used to not using Mark Zuckerberg’s social network.
