How age may be an issue for Facebook

Facebook is not dead. The social media platform still boasts of millions of users worldwide. However, the platform surely has an aging problem. Facebook wants users to know that it is not just for “old people,” but the social network has age issue. The popularity of short video platforms like TikTok and its own Instagram has made the things tough.

While Facebook has consistently declined to disclose user demographics, outside researchers say their numbers are declining. The same is reportedly true for teenagers. A Pew Research Center study on teens, technology and social media found that only 32% of U.S. teens aged 13-17 use Facebook at all. Here’s another thing to note is that Facebook seems to have stepped back from actively recruiting teens amid concerns about social media’s effects on their mental health.

The social media platform is approaching two decades in existence. So for most users who joined around the time Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com from his Harvard dorm room in 2004, it’s still an important part of daily lives, though it may have somewhat faded into the background over the years.

However, without this trend-setting demographic, Facebook is still the main source of revenue for parent company Meta. Tom Alison, who serves as the head of Facebook (founder Mark Zuckerberg’s title is now Meta CEO), sounded optimistic when he outlined the platform’s plans to lure in young adults in an interview with The Associated Press.

Era of “social discovery”
“We used to have a team at Facebook that was focused on younger cohorts, or maybe there was a project or two that was dedicated to coming up with new ideas,” Alison said. “And about two years ago we said no – our entire product line needs to change and evolve and adapt to the needs of the young adults.”

He calls it the era of “social discovery.”

“It’s very much motivated by what we see the next generation wanting from social media. The simple way that I like to describe it is we want Facebook to be the place where you can connect with the people you know, the people you want to know and the people that you should know,” Alison said.

(With agency inputs)

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end of article

Facebook is not dead. The social media platform still boasts of millions of users worldwide. However, the platform surely has an aging problem. Facebook wants users to know that it is not just for “old people,” but the social network has age issue. The popularity of short video platforms like TikTok and its own Instagram has made the things tough.

While Facebook has consistently declined to disclose user demographics, outside researchers say their numbers are declining. The same is reportedly true for teenagers. A Pew Research Center study on teens, technology and social media found that only 32% of U.S. teens aged 13-17 use Facebook at all. Here’s another thing to note is that Facebook seems to have stepped back from actively recruiting teens amid concerns about social media’s effects on their mental health.

The social media platform is approaching two decades in existence. So for most users who joined around the time Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com from his Harvard dorm room in 2004, it’s still an important part of daily lives, though it may have somewhat faded into the background over the years.

However, without this trend-setting demographic, Facebook is still the main source of revenue for parent company Meta. Tom Alison, who serves as the head of Facebook (founder Mark Zuckerberg’s title is now Meta CEO), sounded optimistic when he outlined the platform’s plans to lure in young adults in an interview with The Associated Press.

Era of “social discovery”
“We used to have a team at Facebook that was focused on younger cohorts, or maybe there was a project or two that was dedicated to coming up with new ideas,” Alison said. “And about two years ago we said no – our entire product line needs to change and evolve and adapt to the needs of the young adults.”

He calls it the era of “social discovery.”

“It’s very much motivated by what we see the next generation wanting from social media. The simple way that I like to describe it is we want Facebook to be the place where you can connect with the people you know, the people you want to know and the people that you should know,” Alison said.

(With agency inputs)

FacebookTwitterLinkedin

end of article