With more than 1 billion users worldwide, Facebook has come a long way since its launch just over a decade ago.
However, with teen users leveling off, some have started to call into question Facebook’s future. David Ebersman, Facebook’s chief financial officer, said in 2013 that the company is seeing “a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens,” according to an article in Forbes.
Within the age group that attends Ohio University, 18 to 29-year-olds, Facebook is still the most-used social network, according to the Pew Research Center.
Instead of leaving Facebook, people are just adding to their social media repertoire, with 52 percent of adults online now using two or more social media sites, a 10 percent increase from 2013, according to Pew.
Karen Riggs, a professor of media arts and studies, is quick to correct the idea that Facebook is losing users, despite its challenge dealing with disinterest and a newer, more visual generation.
“They’re growing slowly, becoming more global. Older people are heading to Facebook at an increasing rate, and they’re advertising,” Riggs said.
However, the growing population of older users may be what’s turning some young adult users off.
As of September 2014, 71 percent of Internet users are on Facebook, compared with the 23 percent and 26 percent who use Twitter and Instagram, respectively. Riggs said the lack of family members on alternate social media makes them more appealing.
“A lot of older people got into it, and it got annoying,” said Meghan Doherty, a senior studying media and social change. “They’re just learning too much about everything and getting way too into it. It made (Facebook) unattractive.”
She added that she would be sad to see Facebook die out, but with new challengers like Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, she wouldn’t be surprised.
Amber Chucci, a freshman at OU, seemed apathetic when it came to her Facebook use.
“I guess I sometimes get on,” she said.
Chucci said that she is drawn more to the concise visuals of Snapchat and Instagram.
Mobile applications have begun to play an important role in which kinds of social media younger people are more likely to use. About 67 percent of phone owners 18 to 29 years old use social media apps, according to the Pew Research Center.
“(Younger people) want to use their mobile device effectively,” Riggs said. “(Twitter and Instagram) can easily be used with cellphones.”
Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn all saw “significant increases” in users in recent years, according to the Pew Research Center.
ml540312@ohio.edu
