If you've watched The Social Network, you’d know that Facebook was originally created to connect college-aged students and young adults, but today, popular apps such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat seem to be attracting a younger audience in comparison to Facebook.
According to marketing expert, Sarah Aboulhosn, only five short years ago, 71% of U.S. teenagers were on Facebook. Today? Only 51% use the platform. While Facebook seems to be losing its youth, the numbers don’t lie: Facebook isn’t dying. Facebook is still the leading social media platform today, reaching 60.6% of all internet users, according to a report from eCommerce writer Maryam Mohsin. As of 2020, Facebook has 2.60 billion monthly active users and 1.73 billion daily active users. That’s not exactly a number representative of a “dying” platform.
However, it can be said that Facebook is in a way “dying” in the eyes of people in their teens and early twenties, leaving the platform in the hands of adults like our parents and other relatives. These older generations remain active and reliant on the platform as a means of communication and entertainment. Statista, a platform known best for its published industry studies, reported that as of September 2020, teens ages 13-17 account for a mere 2.8% of Facebook users, and younger adults ages 18-24 account for 15.7%. Meanwhile, older adults ages 45-64 account for 26%, and those age 65 and older 10.9%.
Although Facebook’s user demographic looks different than it used to, it remains a staple in the social media industry and has managed to uphold its reputation as a relevant platform. While the platform has undergone great changes, it is widely understood that social media is dynamic and therefore popular platforms must adapt to change in order to remain relevant. Facebook is a platform that has made such changes, thus extending its reach far and wide; today you can literally gain access to almost any website or app by providing your Facebook log-in information.
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