SP: English Study Group

Manon, 17, has a Facebook account, but to connect with her friends she turns to other social networks such as Instagram and Snapchat.

“I don’t use it to post status updates or personal information,” the San Francisco teen said.

Manon maintains her Facebook account to be able to stay in touch with the large number of users on the huge social network and as a “gateway” to log into other apps.

“But to communicate with my friends, it’s Snapchat,” the high schooler said. “Everyone says Facebook is out of date. I think it’s because all the parents are on Facebook.”

As Facebook has grown into a network of more than 2 billion people globally it has lost its luster for younger users who made up a core base.

While Facebook has become one of the world’s most valuable and powerful companies, it is no longer seen as a cool destination for teens, who are turning to Snapchat and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

According to a Pew Research Center survey this year, 51 percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 use Facebook, compared with 72 percent for Instagram and 69 percent who are on Snapchat. The survey found 85 percent used YouTube.

The landscape has shifted since a 2014-2015 Pew survey, which found Facebook leading other social networks with 71 percent of the teen segment.

“The social media environment among teens is quite different from what it was just three years ago,” Pew researcher Monica Anderson said. “Back then, teens’ social media use mostly revolved around Facebook. Today, their habits revolve less around a single platform.”

The breakup of teens and Facebook was occurring before the latest scandals, which have hit Facebook over hijacked user data and propagation of misinformation.

Thirty-four percent of US online youth view Facebook “as a Web site for old people and parents,” according to a Forrester Research survey.

“US online youth regard Facebook as utility, while other networks that deliver niche value steal attention from Facebook’s broad platform,” Forrester’s Anjali Lai said in a research note. “Established social networks face an image problem.”

A separate report by the research firm eMarketer came to a similar conclusion, estimating that Facebook would lose about 2 million US users under age 24 this year.

Facebook remains king of the social media space and is still growing, though more slowly than in past years.

Its profit in the first quarter of this year jumped 63 percent from a year earlier to US$5 billion, and total revenues increased 49 percent to US$11.97 billion.

The California-based company has been moving to become more diversified, with its “family” of apps, which include Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, and virtual-reality gear from its Oculus division.

To connect with younger audiences, Facebook has launched a parentally controlled Messenger Kids app for those too young to have their own Facebook account, and has expanded that to Peru and Canada.

Facebook is also moving to challenge YouTube, and potentially other services such as Netflix, with original video on its own platform and on Instagram, which has 1 billion users.

With 2.2 billion users, Facebook still has a big lead over Snapchat, with 191 million users at the end of March, and Twitter with 336 million.

“Snapchat has a lot of growing to do before it can really be a huge challenger to Facebook,” eMarketer social media analyst Debra Williamson said.

However, the trends show services like Instagram and Snapchat — which has grown beyond its original offering of disappearing messages — have become the new, cool place for young smartphone users.

With Snapchat, “you can add animation, special effects, that’s what’s interesting for my generation,” said 16-year-old Charlotte, another San Francisco high-school student.

Manon said she also likes Instagram, because it is “more about creativity, people who make music or photography can post what they do.”

Questions:

1. Do you often use SNS? What kinds of SNS do you like to use? What things would you like to share on SNS?

2. Do you agree that more and more people stop using Facebook? What are the reasons?

3. Besides SNS, do you use any other internet platform or forum? Like Steams, Netflix, Mobile01, 5ch, 天涯, etc. What are their special features that draw you to use them?