One could say that Facebook has many problems that it needs to solve. Among them is a decline in teenage users. The Verge described the situation as “Facebook’s lost generation”. Teenage users of the Facebook app in the US had declined by 13 percent since 2019 and were projected to drop 45 percent over the next two years, driving an overall decline in daily users in the company’s most lucrative ad market.
That comes from information that a researcher at Facebook shared with their colleagues. It gets more dire (for Facebook). Young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 were expected to decline by 4 percent during the same timeframe. The younger a user was, the less on average they regularly engaged with the Facebook app.
Instagram was doing better with young people than Facebook was. Instagram had full saturation in the US, France, the UK, Japan, and Australia. But, posting by teens had dropped 13 percent from 2020. According to Facebook researchers, that drop “remains the most concerning trend”. The researchers also found that the increased use of TikTok by teens meant that Facebook was “likely losing our share of time.”
I’m not surprised by this information. Historically, teenagers tend to not be very interested in the things that their parents enjoy. It appears that’s true of social media as well. How comfortable would a teenager be about posting what they really think on Facebook, knowing that their parents and older relatives might see it and respond to it negatively?
Instagram isn’t doing much better than Facebook. The Wall Street Journal reported that a study by Facebook found that teen Instagram users in the US and UK revealed that more than 40% of those who reported feeling “unattractive” said those feelings started when using Instagram. Teens also blamed Instagram for increases of anxiety and depression.
Documents from Facebook show that 61% of new teen accounts on Instagram make their profiles private on initial setup. The Verge reported that Facebook documents show that secondary, private “finsta” accounts have been exploding in popularity, especially among Instagram’s youngest users. This appears to be something Instagram employees are encouraging, in order to keep teens using the app.
Interestingly, it appears today’s teens are more interested in Fortnite or Roblox than Facebook and Instagram. The main reason is because the games are fun, and teens can experience them without feeling pressured by people who will judge their appearance.
Overall, it seems to me that Facebook has a big problem that it likely will not be able to solve. I cannot think of what changes could be made that would entice teens to return to what may feel like their parent’s social media. Personally, I think this “lost generation” could be what causes Facebook to fade away.