Teens find Facebook’s luster fading

MANON, 17, has a Facebook account but to connect with her friends she turns to Instagram or Snapchat.

“I don’t use it to post status updates or personal information,” the San Francisco teen says.

Manon keeps her Facebook account to be able to stay in touch with the large number of users on the huge social network and as a “gateway” to log into other apps. “But to communicate with my friends, it’s Snapchat,” the high schooler said. “Everyone says Facebook is out of date. I think it’s because all the parents are on Facebook.”

As Facebook has grown into a network of more than 2 billion people globally it has lost its luster for younger users who made up a core base.

While Facebook has become one of the world’s most valuable and powerful companies, it’s no longer seen as a cool destination for teens, who are turning to Snapchat and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

According to a Pew Research Center survey this year, 51 percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 use Facebook, compared with 72 percent for Instagram and 69 percent who are on Snapchat. The survey found 85 percent used the Google video sharing service YouTube.

The landscape has shifted since a 2014-15 Pew survey which found Facebook leading other social networks with 71 percent of the teen segment.

“The social media environment among teens is quite different from what it was just three years ago,” said Pew researcher Monica Anderson.

“Back then, teens’ social media use mostly revolved around Facebook. Today, their habits revolve less around a single platform.”

The breakup of teens and Facebook was occurring before the latest scandals which have hit Facebook over hijacked user data and propagation of misinformation.

A Forrester Research survey found 34 percent of US online youth view Facebook “as a website for old people and parents.”