Facebook is rapidly losing ground against rival internet platforms in attracting and keeping US teenagers, a survey showed Thursday.
The Pew Research Center report confirms a trend seen in other surveys, showing a sharp drop in Facebook’s share of what had long been a core age segment for the huge social network. The survey found 51 percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 use Facebook, compared with 85 percent for YouTube, 72 percent for Instagram and 69 percent who are on Snapchat.
The landscape has shifted since a 2014-15 Pew survey which found Facebook leading other social networks with 71 percent of the teen segment. According to the survey, 95 percent of the teens survey said they used a smartphone and 45 percent were online “almost constantly,” with both figures showing increases from prior surveys. According to eMarketer, Facebook will lose two million US users under the age 24 this year, offsetting those losses with gains among older users.