Last year someone told me that Facebook was dead because teenagers are not using it anymore. I proceeded to argue with my then boss that Facebook is not dead. My boss at the time was on to something though, Facebook is losing popularity among teens. Look at these stats from Marketing Charts:
Over the summer Facebook lost 27% of the social media preference among teenagers. If your target market is teenagers look closely at this chart and notice that Instagram is rising in popularity(unlike just about everything else). This rising in popularity has not been missed by Facebook and Twitter as they have been moving to more visually centered design. Really most of the internet is moving to picture focused design. Pictures require less reading than a tweet and they are more quickly consumed. The move to more visual content I see as a trend that will continue for a very long time.
But before you completely write off Facebook: Do note that FACEBOOK OWNS INSTAGRAM. Facebook was trying to hedge its bets when it purchased Instagram for $1 billion. Facebook is positioning itself for long term stability by becoming the universal log-in for apps and services online and this will help cement its place in our lives for years to come. (Also Google is doing the same thing with its Plus/email accounts.)
Facebook is designed for adults. Adults have the money to spend on products and currently Boomers have the most disposable income of any generation. Facebook is not dying because it is not dependent on teens and tweens. I think it will be interesting in the coming years to see if teens as they age return to Facebook because its what the ‘adult’ world uses.
But always keep in mind that Facebook is a rented marketing channel.
