Facebook still reigns among US teens

Facebook is still by far the most popular social media network among US teens, researchers say.

A girl logs into Facebook on her iPhone

Facebook.

Don't write off teens and Facebook just yet.

A report released by Forrester Research on Tuesday showed the world's biggest social network is still by far the most popular among US teens despite the rise of new apps and services like Snapchat and Tumblr.

Forrester's report was based on a survey of 4517 US respondents between the ages of 12 and 17.

"The results were clear: Facebook remains young users' favourite social network. More than three-quarters of online youth use Facebook - twice as many as use Pinterest or Tumblr or Snapchat, and more than use Instagram and WhatApp combined," said Forrester analyst Nate Elliott.

"And 28 per cent of young users who are on Facebook say they use it 'all the time', a higher percentage than said this about any other social network."

Forrester began its research after Facebook and a number of analysts suggested that teens were falling out of love with the social network.

"Ever since Facebook CFO (chief financial officer) David Ebersman admitted last October that young teens were visiting the site slightly less frequently, most have accepted as fact that young people are fleeing Facebook en masse," Elliott said in a blog post.

But he said the study indicate that Facebook's usage among young people has declined only slightly and that "the huge majority of this audience still uses the site".

"The bottom line: The sky is not falling. Facebook does not have a problem attracting or retaining teen users," he said.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world