eMarkter’s latest mobile forecast has revealed some interesting information about how young people are using social media. The biggest news is that among the younger users, Facebook is being overtaken by Snapcaht and Instagram.
For the 12-17 demographic, Facebook has 14.5 million users, compared to Snapchat’s 15.8 million. Instagram lags well behind at just 4.2 million. Once we look at the 18-24 demographic, however, it Instagram shoots up to nearly the same levels as the other two options, boasting 22.1 million users. Facebook comes in second here at 23.5 million, and Snapchat is in the lead at 24.4 million. These numbers are all for US users.
For marketers, this type of information is critical as it will help to make essential decisions regarding where ad dollars and marketing efforts should go.
Oscar Orozco, one of the forecasting analysts at eMarketer, said in a statement, “We see teens and tweens migrating to Snapchat and Instagram. Outside of the Facebook-cutters, teens and tweens remaining on Facebook seem to be less engaged – loggin in less frequently and spending less time on the platform. At the same time, we now have Facebook-nevers, many children aging into the tween demographic that appear to be overlooking Facebook altogether, yet still engaging with Facebook-owned Instagram.”
