Where did all the teens go?

One of the most popular social media sites are asking themselves where did the teenage demographic go? They have seen a decrease in users from the second to third quarters of 2013. Facebook conducted research to determine and finalize why this has been happening. They dropped from the second to third quarter with participation and activity within the teen category.

They have determined that this target has moved onto other mobile apps such as: Vine, Instagram, Snapchat, Foursquare and more. Vine ownedby Twitter has grown 639% in the last quarter according to a research group. The application SnapChat has been proven more popular then LinkedIn and Vine among this target market.

Overall this demographic has switched over to a mobile device rather than a computer or laptop. Facebook messenger app has seen more growth then Facebook itself. What can Facebook do to regain the teen’s attention?

From my own experience, I have the majority of the apps mentioned above and the reason I choose to Snapchat someone or Instagram is because it is fast, efficient and simple. It has one aspect you can do, for example those who don’t know Instagram is a photosharing application. You can put filters or crop pictures with captions…that’s it. You scroll through your news feed to see what other people have been posting and may even comment or like on one. SnapChat is a photo sharing application as well but with a twist! You take a photo and send it to the contacts you wish to see it for a specific amount of designated time. Once the person you sent it to opens the “snap” the time counts down until it hits zero which is when the picture disappears for good. The contact can screen shot the picture which then would be saved to their phone but at that point you will be notified who screen shot it.

 Facebook embodies many types of communication. It not only allows you to share, like and comment on photos but incorporates Twitter with being able to update statuses and Foursquare by checking into current locations. It’s a hub to do everything. Facebook can use this to their advantage. Who wants to have multiple apps doing multiple things when you do it all in one place? Teens are starting to put Facebook on the backburner. Facebook needs to show the easiness of sharing information or come up with a new way to communicate that these other apps don’t have.