There has been a lot in the media over the past few weeks about how teenagers are abandoning Facebook. An interesting piece in the New York Times wonders whether it is no longer exciting enough, and whether it provides enough for teenagers to ‘do’:
Nathan Jurgenson, a sociologist who studies the Internet and was recently hired as a researcher by Snapchat, a mobile messaging app that is rapidly growing in popularity… said mainstream sites had evolved into a kind of "decoy social media." In his view, it has become akin to a yearbook or yellow pages – a static home on the Web that offers proof of someone’s existence, and perhaps little else. That might explain in part the popularity of a wave of new services like his company, Snapchat, as well as Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and even Vine. They have taken root, particularly among teenagers.
But does Facebook needs teens to survive? Let’s not forget they are the lowest spending socio-economic group.
After all, shares of Twitter soared during the company’s first few days on the public markets. The company’s market capitalization is now almost $25 billion. And it was able to achieve that without a firm grasp on the teenage demographic.
But if teenagers use Facebook less often, youth-oriented advertisers might spend less of their marketing budget on the site. And if teenagers are ultimately spending less time there, other users might follow suit, affecting the company’s overall potential for moneymaking.
Facebook can manage very well without the support of teenagers, Sundar said. "But the truth is that teens are often the initial adopters," he said. "The real danger to Facebook might be the companies where they are going.
I would add that another danger for Facebook is that we are having this discussion at all – it creates the impression of a downward momentum which the company may find difficult to overcome.
Nevertheless…. Have you noticed a drop in your friends’ and customers’ presence on Facebook?
Could there be advantages to a higher average age on the site? Let us know what you think!
