Teens still love Facebook. No news there. According to a recent study by Piper Jaffray, 33 percent of the 5,200 teens surveyed choose Facebook as their most important social network.
Following behind, Twitter has 30 percent of the vote, while 17 percent of teens say that Instagram is the most important social network.
What’s notable, however, is that interest in Facebook seems to be declining heavily among teens. Though teens still dub Facebook their most important socialnetwork, Piper Jaffray reports that the numbers are down regarding how many teens see Facebook as the most important social media website.
Over the past year, the number of teens who deem Facebook as the most important social media site has dropped from more than 30 percent to just over 20 percent. But it’s not just Facebook. Almost all social media sites have either seen a decline or stagnation in their importance to the teen demographic.
YouTube may usurp Facebook soon as the most important social media site, though it too has shown a decline in importance. As it stands right now, YouTube also has around 22 percent of the vote, but seems to be declining at a much slower pace.
Both Instagram and Twitter show strong growth, especially this spring as kids gear up for summer.
But in true teenage fashion, the survey group of 5,200 teens made sure to note their favorite social media tools that were excluded from the list. According to the PJC study, teens are intrigued by Wanelo, Vine, Snapchat, Kik, and 4chan, in that order.
Vine has only been around for a few months, but has already risen to number 1 in the App Store. Snapchat is also a no-brainer, considering that teens make up the majority of a demographic that sends over 20 million snaps per day.
Just as much as Twitter poses a threat, so too do these up-and-coming social apps that have taken teens by storm.
However, Facebook Home (a new Facebook-baked Android skin) may prove useful as teens’ interest wanes. Not only will it give Facebook insight into which apps to look out for, as it monitors when and how often users launch apps, but it will put Facebook in front of users at a much more pervasive scale.
