Facebook Not as Cool as Snapchat and YouTube Among Teens, Study Shows

Instagram is doing just fine

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Testifies At Joint Senate Commerce/Judiciary Hearing
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Teenagers don’t like Facebook that much.

While Facebook marched toward 2 billion monthly users in recent years, a new survey from Pew Research on Thursday suggests that growth could stall. Roughly half of the 743 kids polled between 13-17 said they use the social network.

That’s a stark drop-off from only three years ago, when Facebook was the most popular app among teenagers, according to Pew.

Competitors like Snapchat are thriving in comparison, with 69 percent of teens saying they use the disappearing messages app. YouTube leads the way, with 85 percent of respondents saying they use the world’s biggest video site. Perhaps most concerning for Facebook is teens aren’t using it that much — with only 10 percent saying they use it most often. YouTube and Snapchat combined to receive about 2/3 of the “used most often” votes.


YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are the most popular online platforms among teens

Here’s the thing for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: Even when he’s losing, he’s still winning. That’s because Instagram, the popular Facebook-owned messaging app, still has 72 percent of teens onboard — making it more popular than rival Snapchat, the app Instagram has been modeling new features after as of late. As kids become more disenchanted with Facebook, the company’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram back in 2012 continues to stand out as one of tech’s best bets of the last 20 years.

Facebook shareholders didn’t seem fazed on Thursday morning, with the company trading near its all-time high at about $190 a share.

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