There’s no question that
Facebook FB +3.85% is quickly losing teenage users to other social networks. In February,
Facebook
admitted in its annual 10-K report filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission that it was aware that younger users were less
engaged with the social network than previously. Facebook stated:
“We believe that some of our users, particularly our
younger users, are aware of and actively engaging with other products
and services similar to, or as a substitute for, Facebook. For example,
we believe that some of our users have reduced their engagement with
Facebook in favor of increased engagement with other products and
services such as Instagram. In the event that our users increasingly
engage with other products and services, we may experience a decline in
user engagement and our business could be harmed.”
In fact, many teens attest to the fact they are
abandoning Facebook. In August, 13 year-old Ruby Karp wrote an Op-Ed for
Mashable declaring
“I’m 13 and None of My Friends Use Facebook”.
Karp wrote that all of her friends are using Instagram and Snapchat,
and she only has a Facebook account herself “just to see what it was all
about. I soon discovered that Facebook is useless without friends. My
only friend is, like, my grandma.” She also discovered the dark side of
Facebook for the teens who do use it: Bullying. “Kids might comment
something mean on a photo of you, or message you mean things. This isn’t
Facebook’s fault, but again, it does happen there. If my mom heard I
was getting bullied on Facebook, she would tell me to quit right away.”
The impact of bullying via social networks on today’s young women –
especially sexual harassment – was recently detailed in
Vanity Fair.
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