Facebook is among the world's most popular social networks, but it seems that Snapchat is more appealing to young users.
Young people might use the internet more, but Facebook is targeting a wider audience that includes older individuals who use the social network to connect with their family, friends, coworkers, and more.
For a good while now, various studies and reports have indicated that Facebook was having trouble keeping younger users on its network. With a slew of other apps and sites available on the market, it seems that youngsters are not that into Facebook anymore.
Youngsters Prefer Snapchat To Facebook
According to a new report from eMarketer, Snapchat is now the go-to place for young people, who prefer the ephemeral platform instead of Facebook. Moreover, eMarketer expects Facebook to lose even more young users this year, especially in the United States.
Facebook does not allow users under the age of 13 to sign up to the social network, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. According to eMarketer, however, the number of Facebook users aged 11 or younger will drop by 9.3 percent in the United States. At the same time, eMarketer also predicts that the number of users aged between 12 and 17 will see a 5.6 percent decline while the number of users aged 18 to 24 will drop by 5.8 percent.
Instagram And Snapchat To Win Over Youngsters
This marks the first time that eMarketer expects a drop in these age groups in the United States as many young Facebook users may migrate to other social networks. Instagram is one of them.
"Facebook will lose 2 million users ages 24 and younger this year," eMarketer estimates. But not all of those users are migrating to Instagram."
According to the report, Instagram is expected to gain roughly 1.6 million young users up to 24 years old, but Snapchat will get the upper hand. Snapchat is expected to add 1.9 million users in this age group of 24 and younger.
However, eMarketer does note that while Snapchat is popular mainly among youngsters right now, it could appeal to more age groups in the future. The recent Snapchat redesign aims to make it easier to use by all people, but it remains to be seen whether young users will still prefer Snapchat if older people join the platform too.
Facebook, meanwhile, is still gaining more monthly users, but mainly in older age groups. The social network is expected to reach 169.5 million U.S. users this year, marking just a slight increase of nearly 1 percent compared to 2017.
