A survey conducted recently has confirmed that the popularity of Facebook among teenagers has fallen. Though still the most popular social site, only 88% of American teenagers (13 to 17 year olds) are today using the site as compared to 94% of them a year ago and 95% in 2012. In addition to that, it is losing popularity with other age groups as well, the usage being down from 93% two years back to only 90% this year.
The survey conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates (a renowned market research firm) has given this latest information about Facebook usage patterns over American citizens. A total of 1,934 people were questioned by them, but they got in touch with only smartphone users.
David Ebersman, Chief Financial Officer at Facebook had also confirmed the fact in October this year saying that the popularity of their site had fallen from the second quarter to the third quarter. Inspite of ground reality and figures giving conclusive evidence there are some within the company who refuse to read the message on the wall.
Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg being one example. In November, she dismissed any concerns that Facebook is losing appeal among teens saying “the vast majority of US teens are on Facebook, and the majority of US teens use Facebook almost every day.”
Other surveys in the past have confirmed beyond doubt that teens are now moving on to use other platforms, the most popular being the instant messaging app WhatsApp and Instagram, both owned by Facebook at present.
Of all the respondents of the survey, only 16% found the site to be still trendy while 18% said it was fun and 16% said it was informative. Less than 10% thought that it was safe to use Facebook. The site has come under a lot of flak over the last few months about privacy concerns and their monetization model.
Though the popularity has taken a dip, Facebook earned record profits over the last quarter, crossing the $3 billion landmark for the first time.
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