Twitter Overtakes Facebook as No.1 Social Network for Teens
Many teenagers are obsessed with Facebook, but it looks the platform has lost some of its charms. According to the Piper Jaffray’s semi-annual teen market research report, Twitter overtakes the once strong position of Facebook as No. 1 social network for teens.
The Piper Jaffray’s Taking Stock with Teens study showed that Facebook is no longer a favourite platform for teens to communicate and entertain. Teenagers rated Twitter “the most important social media network” with Facebook and Instagram close behind. 26 percent of the teens chose Twitter, while only 23 percent said Facebook was the most important. This is a 4 percent increase for Twitter from last year and a surprising downfall for Facebook, which in 2012 boasted with 42 percent of teens naming it as the most important. However, the report suggest that this is not the big triumph that Twitter could achieve – another 23 percent of the teens admitted that Facebook-owned Instagram was the most influential. Last year, in comparison, only 12 percent said Instagram was their No.1 choice.
Taking Stock with Teens, conducted by the investment company Piper Jaffray focused on information fashion trends, spending patterns and brand and media preferences. Pew’s latest study, called Teens, Social Media and Privacy however, has similar findings. According to its results, teens are abandoning Facebook because too many parents and adults are also using it. There is also too much “drama” between Facebook friends and my users who are “over-sharing”. They keep on using it only because “participation is an important part of overall teenage socializing”. Pew also says that the typical Facebook user has 300 friends, while on Twitter they have 79 followers on average.
So, Facebook is no longer cool for teens. Its founder Mark Zuckerberg himself admitted “coolness is done for us” in September. He prefers people to use the website as an everyday tool, “like electricity” rather than something cool.
