Less-cool Facebook losing youth at fast pace, explains survey
With mom, dad and grandma signing up in increasing numbers, Facebook is losing younger users in the United States at a faster pace than previously estimated, researchers said. A report by eMarketer said Snapchat is drawing youths away from Facebook at a quicker clip than Facebook-owned Instagram. Facebook is still growing in the US market, according to research firm, mainly due to increases in usage by older age groups.
The report is the latest to highlight Facebook’s problem with attracting and keeping young people, who have long been a core user base for the world’s biggest social network. The research firm said it expected the first-ever decline in the 18-24 age group in the US, a drop of 5.8 per cent this year. It also said that for the first time since its research began, less than half of the 12-17 age group in the United States would be on Facebook, with a 5.6 per cent drop in that segment.
The under-12 age group meanwhile will see a decline of 9.3 per cent this year, eMarketer said. The same trend is expected to continue into 2019 and 2020, with declines in all segments of US users under 25, the report added. Facebook …read more