Teenagers and young people just don’t use Facebook anymore, they think it’s for “old people” like their moms and grandmas. According to a 2023 Pew survey on teen Internet use, only about a third of 13- to 17-year-olds said they used Facebook, which is a big change from 10 years earlier when 71% of teens reported that they did in Pew’s 2014 survey.
Now the social media platform, which turned 20 this year, is desperate to win back younger users. Meta, their parent company, just shared their plan for the “next 20 years” of Facebook at an event, where execs handed out pamphlets that read, “We are not your mom’s Facebook,” but we are “a hub for all things culturally happening in the platform’s underground.”
To get more Gen Z users on the platform, they’re focusing on three major features: the feed, reels and creators.
- Feed - The company is shifting the content to be relevant to younger audiences, highlighting the Marketplace, Dating, groups and events. They’ve also moved away from features including audio and news products.
- Reels - Now they’ll be emphasizing short-form video with Reels and they’ve made it easier for users to privately message those videos to friends and family.
- Creators - The company has developed a professional mode on Facebook in an effort to make the app more creator-friendly and they’ll have features for creators to monetize their posts.
At the meeting, Facebook President Tom Alison said, “We’re still for everyone, but we recognize that to stay relevant, we have to build for … Gen Z.” Only time will tell whether their new strategy can make that happen.
Source: NY Post
Scott's Thoughts:
- If they don’t win young people back, at least it’ll still be where I can see what my aunts and old classmates from high school are up to!
- I find myself wanting to use social media LESS the more I age.
- Want it to appeal more to me? Less ads please! (I know that sounds ironic coming from a radio programmer.)