Social this, not social that
Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram are currently a few of the top social media platforms with the most active users. Facebook has been number one for years with about 2.8 billion monthly users and hoped that by purchasing Instagram they would grab the attention of more younger people to all of their apps. https://www.oberlo.com/blog/facebook-statistics However, Instagram is fearful of losing its young users and is faced with tough competitors, such as TikTok and Snapchat. Even though Instagram is the biggest of those apps with 1.3 billion users, a survey showed that 35% of teens claimed Snapchat as their favorite platform and 30% said TikTok was their favorite. Instagram came in third with 22% saying it was their favorite. With TikTok growing at a rapid rate, Instagram is losing its younger users as well. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/internal-documents-show-facebook-usage-among-young-users-is-in-steep-declin/607708/
As an avid user of social media, I have noticed many similar updates across all major platforms. For instance, Snapchat was the first app to introduce stories and within a year or two, we saw this change on Instagram and Facebook. They are noticeably trying to keep up with what is trending within the younger generation on social media. Additionally, Facebook even attempted to purchase Snapchat when it was on its rise to the top. Zuckerberg’s goal was to increase the appeal of Facebook to younger users but failed.
Facebook has always said that “teens are one of our most important communities because they spot and set trends.” https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/16/technology/instagram-teens.html Due to their inability to grasp the younger generation, they have decided to create an Instagram Kids app for children under the age of 13. In my opinion, nothing good will come from this decision. Children do not need to experience social media and all of the hate that can be attached to it until they are at an age where they know how to cope. Regardless of the number of users Facebook and Instagram have, they are still losing the attention of younger users. Their apps are slowly dying in the social media world and they are scrambling to come up with new ways to attract the right demographic.