For the first time in nearly a decade, less than half of all teens in the United States will visit Facebook at least once this month.
The company has more than 2 billion monthly active users across the globe. It’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been ratcheting up his attempts to connect the world to his network.
While this growth has been attributed to significant numbers of older people joining the platform, this silver surge may have had a knock-on effect of pushing younger people away from Facebook. It seems that kids don’t want to hang on the same social media platform as their parents and grandparents.
Data from market research found that Facebook is losing younger users at a significant rate, with an estimated 2 million users aged 24 and younger set to leave this year. The number of U.S. Facebook users aged 11 and younger declined by almost ten percent in 2018, while the number of users aged 18-24 decreased by 5.8 percent.
The analysis came on the same day that Wired magazine published a major investigation into Facebook, which details a tumultuous two years at the social media giant. Speaking with 51 current and former Facebook employees, the article describes, “a company and CEO whose techno-optimism has been crushed as they’ve learned the myriad ways their platform can be used for ill.”
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. It also explains Facebook’s “copy and crush” strategy of dealing with competitors. In 2018, Facebook was accused of copying Snapchat’s platform through its Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp applications to draw younger users to its platform. Facebook is no longer “cool” to the younger generation.
But what does this mean for the marketer? A lot, actually.
As marketers, it’s essential to stay abreast of social media trends to adjust our strategies to be most effective. This decline in a younger audience is proof positive that marketing to more youthful people on Facebook may become a more difficult task. You must plan your Facebook ads accordingly.
Facebook remains the most popular social networking site in the U.S. Completely abandoning your ads on the social media juggernaut is a terrible idea. But if your products or services are youth-oriented, Snapchat may be the place for you.