And the survey says: teens are losing interest in Facebook.
Several years ago, Facebook became the new MySpace when it rose to where it is now: the top social networking site. However, new research measuring teenage interest in social networks, reports that only 33 percent of teens listed Facebook as their most important social network. Though that number is still good enough to make Facebook number one in the survey, the site has dropped 9 percentage points since the fall 2012 report, in which 42 percent of teens rated it their most important social network.
Twitter was ranked second, with 30 percent of teens saying its their most important social tool. Instagram and Tumblr received 17 and 4 percent of the vote, respectively. The bright spot for Facebook may be that Instagram, which the company purchased for $1 billion last year, showed a 5 percent jump the largest increase of all the social networks.
Though Twitter is a close second behind Facebook in this survey, teen interest seems to be splintering among a number of other services. A recent Reuters report found that many teens are using messaging services like Kik and Snapchat in lieu of Facebook.
Other social networks on the horizon like Pheed are also gaining teen users. Part of the draw of Pheed has been the services copyright system, which allows content creators to watermark the photos and videos they share on the social network. Younger users also go on other networks like Pheed to create smaller, clickier social networks.
So is it time for Facebook to panic? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he isnt worried. When asked about the reports of the declining teen demographic, he said, The engagement we see is good and we are quite happy with it. Wait, isnt that what MySpace said less than a decade ago?
From ABC.com
