Is Facebook becoming the retirement home of social media?

Published on: March 12, 2019 / Updated on: March 12, 2019 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

While it might be a bit of a stretch to call Facebook the retirement home of social media, the social network is experiencing an exodus of young people as more and more people over 55 sign up. Facebook generally struggles to retain its user base, and today it has an estimated 15 million fewer US users than in 2017. This is according to a report published last week by Edison Research , which shows that 67 percent of the American population over the age of 12 used Facebook in 2017, a figure that has since fallen to 61 percent.

Edison found that in 2017, 79 percent of the key demographic of 12- to 34-year-olds used Facebook, and that figure is now at 62 percent. The user share in the 35-54 age group was 72 percent in 2017 and is now at 69 percent. The percentage of people aged 55 and over using Facebook rose from 49 percent to 53 percent between 2018 and 2019. No wonder all these teenagers have been complaining about more friend requests from parents, aunts, and uncles.

There are several possible reasons why younger users are abandoning Facebook en masse. While the report didn't provide conclusive reasons for the exodus, Facebook's privacy issues and breaches of trust were identified as significant factors. The rise of other platforms like Snapchat and Instagram is another important reason, and both are highly attractive to younger generations due to their simplicity and the fact that they collect less private information. Facebook, of course, owns Instagram, but that doesn't help it rectify the situation. It may well be that Facebook needs to introduce a universal messaging system to stem the user migration, or it will eventually have to accept that it's on its way to becoming the retirement home of social media.

Even though it might be a bit of a stretch to describe Facebook as social media's retirement home, the social network is experiencing an exodus of young people while increasing numbers of over 55s are signing up. Facebook is generally struggling to retain its user base and today, it has an estimated 15 million fewer US users than it did in 2017. That's according to a report released by Edison Research last week which shows that 67 percent of the American population aged over 12 used Facebook in 2017, a share that has now fallen to 61 percent.

Edison found that in 2017, 79 percent of the important 12 to 34-year old demographic used Facebook and that figure now stands at 62 percent. Meanwhile, the user share in the 35-54 age bracket was 72 percent in 2017 and that now stands at 69 percent. The share of people aged 55 and over using Facebook increased from 49 percent to 53 percent between 2018 and 2019. No wonder all those teenagers have been complaining about more friend requests from parents, aunts, and uncles.

There are several possible reasons as to why younger users are leaving Facebook in droves. Even though the report did not provide any solid reasons for the exodus, Facebook's privacy issues and breaches of trust have been cited as having an impact. The emergence of other platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are another key reason and both are highly attractive to younger generations due to their simplicity and the fact that they collect less private information. Facebook, of course, owns Instagram but that isn't helping it rectify the situation. It might well be that Facebook will have to roll out a universal messaging system to halt the user migration or else it might eventually have to accept that it's on the road to becoming social media's retirement home.

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