Friday Facts: Facebook Losing Users, Unappealing to Teens

Following last weeks' article with interesting statistics about the penetration of the internet and social media around the world, a couple other articles came across my Twitter feed talking about the decline of Facebook users, especially among younger generations.

According to Complex, Facebook has lost more than 11 million users since 2011.  And to be honest, that's not a real surprise to me either.  Think about all the fake accounts that get purged or people who have multiple Facebook accounts (for whatever reasons) that either get busted by Facebook or decide to close down some accounts.

You then have other folks who decide to "Leave Facebook" for a while and close out their accounts and either eventually reopen them or just don't come back at all.

The Complex article, however, touches on a secondary subject regarding high school and college students abandoning Facebook and using other services, such as Instagram and SnapChat.  That fact is backed up by the Forbes article linked below.

Fact of the matter is, if you have a teen, you'll know that most of them are veering away from Facebook because they feel it is populated by "old people" and prefer to post graphic images via Instagram and SnapChat to their friends.  And I'm sure once they realize "old people" like me are on Instagram too, they'll eventually move on to other social media or create something of their own.

It is interesting to note, looking through growth charts and active user charts, the number of active users have been increasing each quarter - at least according to Inside Facebook.

Social media is evolving and anyone involved in Social Media has to keep their finger on the pulse to be able to stay in the know.  As of right now, you can still reach a cross section of generations via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., but it's good to be aware of what changes could be on the horizon too.

Do you have a high school or college student?  If so, what do they think of Facebook and Twitter?  What are they using to communicate with their friends?

Sources:

Forbes: Facebook is Losing Teens, And New Privacy Settings Won't Bring Them Back: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/10/19/facebook-is-losing-teens-and-new-privacy-settings-wont-bring-them-back/

Complex: Facebook Has Lost 11 Million Users Since 2011, Analyst Says: http://www.complex.com/tech/2014/01/facebook-loses-11-million-users?utm_campaign=complexmag%2Bsocialflow%2B01%2B2014&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Inside Facebook: Facebook’s global growth in Q4: 1.06B MAU, mobile surpasses web:  http://www.insidefacebook.com/2013/01/30/facebooks-global-growth-in-q4-1-06b-mau-mobile-surpasses-web/  (Article image comes from here).