Teenagers prefer the visual immediacy of Instagram or Snapchat over Facebook
According to the latest projections from eMarketer, Facebook is losing users to Snapchat and Instagram on the U.S and UK markets. Generally, teenagers and young adults have been contributing to the growth of Facebook. However, the decline is most expected among these platforms.
Facebook in Decline for the Second Consecutive Year
eMarketer notes that this is the second consecutive year the social media platform has been losing users from the younger demographic. Teenagers and young adults log in less frequently and spend less time on the platform. Some even skip the platform completely and use only Snapchat or Instagram. Meanwhile, these two visual platforms have reached a double digit growth, suggesting that this type of engagement is preferred.
The decline might have an impact on Facebook’s ad revenue in particular. The social media giant is massively relying on ad revenue. However, the situation might not be so grim. Facebook is the owner of Instagram, which is a main player on the social media market, with approximately 90 million users currently.
Snapchat on the Rise
eMarketer has given Snapchat the most favorable projections. According to the study, Snapchat will overtake both Facebook and Instagram by the end of 2017. By 2021, Snapchat might even reach a majority in the teen demographics.
Four years ago, Facebook attempted the acquisition of Snapchat for 3 billion dollars. Snapchat refused, adding to the company’s first report on the decline in its teenaged users. Since then, Zuckerberg’s platform struggled to appeal to the younger demographic through the implementation of features similar to those on Snapchat to Instagram. The attempt was a success and Instagram now holds 44% of the social network users. Still, users in the 12-17 age group drastically reduced their activity on the platform.
To make these projections, eMarketer took into consideration qualitative and quantitative data provided by research firms, government agencies, public companies and many more private enterprises.
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