Young adults ditch Facebook, while more older users join network

Teens and young adults are ditching Facebook in favour of services such as SnapChat, while over-55s are choosing to use the social network more and more.

According to a new report by eMarketer, in 2018 2.2 million 12 to 17-year-olds and 4.5 million 18 to 24-year-olds will regularly use Facebook in the UK, 700,000 fewer than in 2017.

Bill Fisher, UK senior analyst at eMarketer, said: “Facebook has a teen problem. This latest forecast indicates that it is more than just a theory,” reports The Guardian.

“Until now it has been able to rely on platform shifters being hoovered up by Instagram. However, leading the charge for younger audiences is Snapchat. There are now some early signs that younger social network users are being swayed by Snapchat.”

Facebook will see 500,000 new over-55s join the network this year, reports eMarketer. Plus, there will be 6.4 million 55 to 65-year-old-plus regular Facebook users this year.

This increase in older users means that over-55s will become the second biggest demographic of Facebook users this year.

According to Fisher, during the last three years SnapChat has more than doubled its take-up rate among UK users of social networking platforms.