By Elena Zanone
A recent Pew Research study revealed that America teens are showing a “waning enthusiasm” for the social network giant Facebook. In a study that observed over 800 teens and their social media behaviors, the decrease desire for Facebook and the increase interest for Twitter seemed to capture the most headlines.
What teens seem to dislike about Facebook most is the fact that their parents, grandparents and other adults are also there, diffusing Facebook’s “cool” factor. Additionally, teens complain that their friends often overshare and post too much “drama” on the site.
“The stress of needing to manage their reputation on Facebook also contributes to the lack of enthusiasm,” the survey said.
Because of that, teens are increasingly migrating to other social platforms, especially Twitter because of the freedom and ambiguity the site offers.The Pew survey found that 24 percent of online teens now use Twitter, up a dramatic 16 percent since 2011. The increase in teen Tweeters has even outpaced adults on the platform – a major leap from Twitter’s first year where only 9 percent of teens were reported using the 140-character social site. Some 64 percent of teens have Twitter accounts set to public so anyone can read their tweets, with 24 percent setting their accounts to private. Perhaps the most interesting, 12 percent reported they didn’t know whether their tweets were even public or private. Much different from how users fix their privacy settings on Facebook.
Other social platforms such as Tumblr, Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), YouTube and Snapchat have also seen major growth among young users in the past year.
Those teens who used sites like Twitter and Instagram reported feeling like they could better express themselves on these platforms, where they felt “liberated from the social expectations and constraints of Facebook,” the Pew survey said. “Nevertheless, the site is still where a large amount of socializing takes place, and teens still feel they need to maintain their Facebook profile in order to not “miss out,” the report confirmed.
These findings are based on a nationally representative phone survey run by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project of exactly 802 parents and their 802 teens ages 12-17. It was conducted between July 26 and September 30, 2012. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish and on landline and cell phones.
Where do you predict a majority of teens will be next year Do you think overall teens on Twitter can ever surpass Facebook usage entirely Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Source: Gigaom
