Facebook, once the most popular social media platforms in the world, has reportedly plummeted in popularity among younger users according to a new Pew Research Center survey. China’s TikTok on the other hand is used by 67 percent of young people.
Facebook is not as popular as it once was with Gen Z, plummeting in use amongst younger demographics according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. In a 2015 survey, Pew found that 71 percent of teens aged between 13 and 17 used Facebook. Facebook beat other platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter among the younger demographic.
But the most recent 2022 survey shows that for teens aged 13 to 17, Facebook usage dropped from 71 percent in the 2015 study to just 31 percent today. While Facebook’s popularity has dropped significantly, YouTube has become one of the most popular platforms among teen users. Other popular social media sites include China’s TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.
Facebook still beats Twitter among the Gen Z demographics, but Snapchat and Instagram have completely dwarfed its popularity. Sixty-two percent of teens use Instagram and 59 percent use Snapchat, according to Pew. Chinese-owned TikTok was also more popular than Facebook with 67 percent of those surveyed saying they use the app. The popularity of TikTok amongst young people is a serious problem, especially given the recent news that employees in China can access the private user data of Americans, and that more than 300 current employees of TikTok and parent company ByteDance used to work in Chinese state media.
The most popular online platform among teen users is YouTube which 95 percent said they used. Pew further found that boys were more likely to use YouTube, Twitch, and Reddit. The survey also found that Black and Hispanic teens tended to use TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp, more than white teens.
When asked which apps they use “almost constantly,” 19 percent of teens said YouTube, TikTok came in second with 16 percent, 15 percent replied with Snapchat, 10 percent with Instagram, and just two percent said Facebook.
The majority of teens, 54 percent, said that it would be too hard to give up social media and 36 percent said they felt that they spend too much time on social media. 97 percent of respondents said that they use the internet daily.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan