Facebook is dead to teenagers

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Think you’re at the top of your social media game? You might have to think again. A 19 year-old student currently attending UT Austin wrote an excellent article on Medium that is getting a lot of attention, and for a good reason.

Rewind five years ago and you might be able to make a case for the fact that anyone using social media at all was on the cutting edge. Fast-forward to today and you’ll find that many teenagers find Facebook to be a social media network used by their parents.

“Facebook is something we all got in middle school because it was cool but now is seen as an awkward family dinner party we can’t really leave.” (Source – A Teenager’s View On Social Media)

So who is the ten million pound gorilla in the social media space?

Instagram

. While it might seem like teens are still posting like crazy on Facebook it’s important to see how they are doing it.

“…although the most people are on Facebook, we actually post stuff on Instagram.” (Source – A Teenager’s View On Social Media)

Okay, so maybe you use Instagram but did you know there’s another social network that is gaining steam? I’m talking about

Snapchat

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“Snapchat is quickly becoming the most used social media network, especially with the advent of My Story.” (Source – A Teenager’s View On Social Media)

So why should all of this be important to you? Well if you run a business that does anything online you should probably realize that the teenager of today is going to become your customer as time goes on. If you lose touch with them you might find your customers checking-into retirement homes and enjoying a busy day of bocce.

I personally have become more active on Instagram than ever before (you can follow me here) but Snapchat is one that has escaped me. That being said, I know I need to start using Snapchat because I’m starting to feel like an old man because I don’t even have the app on my phone.

My point here is simple. If you think you’re on top of your social media game because you’re connecting with your customers via Facebook you’re going to be missing a bigger chunk of the market every single day that goes by. Don’t look at new social networks as “something kids use” look at is as something you should become familiar with otherwise before you know it you could lose touch with the people that someday will become your customers.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton