A new study has challenged recent claims that there has been a mass migration of teenagers from Facebook to other social media sites, suggesting that the previous data has been exaggerated.
The GlobalWebIndex (GWI) report titled ‘Social Q4 2013’ comprised interviews with around 170,000 users of social media across more than 30 countries, and opposes the findings of a study conducted by the University College London claiming that Facebook is, for teenagers, “dead and buried”.
According to the team behind the GWI report, while Facebook has seen a 3% drop in the number of younger people accessing their news feeds and posting status updates over Q3 and Q4 2013, the decrease does not represent broader trends.
Facebook has retained its number one spot when it comes to both the number of open accounts, visit frequency and active usage. It’s true that Facebook isn’t suitable for every business; business-to-business companies, for instance, might be more suited to social sites like Twitter, while Facebook typically serves as the platform of choice for SMEs with a business-to-consumer focus. Either way, Facebook is still a relevant aspect of many brands’ internet marketing strategies.
Discussing the findings of the Social Q4 2013 report, the GWI CEO and founder, Tom Smith, said that Facebook is used on a monthly basis by nearly half (48.5%) of 16 to 19 year olds all over the world – that’s 67% more active teenage users than its nearest rival, YouTube, with 29%.
The study also found that messaging apps, in particular, experienced significant growth between Q2 and Q4 last year, with WhatsApp and SnapChat’s user bases growing by 35% and 54% respectively.
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