Teens Still Just Not That Into Facebook

By Trey Thoelcke Published Apr 29, 11:30AM EDT

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In bad news for Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), the percentage of teens active on the social media platform fell by 9% last year, according to a global survey of more than 40,000 Internet users ages 16 to 19 by research firm GlobalWebIndex (GWI). Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) does not have it quite so bad, as the number of teen users fell by only 3% in 2013.

However, the numbers of teens with accounts on these sites remained largely stable, suggesting that they are not abandoning the big social platforms, just using them less frequently.

So where have they gone? To mobile messaging apps. Here Facebook is on better ground, as its messenger app remains the most popular with a 25% share. WhatsApp and WeChat are each used by 20% of teens globally. Note that Snapchat saw growth of 60% in 2013, the fastest rising messaging app, according to GWI.

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The study also found that teens lead the total online population in use of the Internet on a mobile device, with 68% of them mobile Internet users. That was up 5% last year. And almost all teens are second-screeners; for example, chatting on a their phones while watching television or playing video games.

GWI found that Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Android is the operating system preferred by the teen demographic, at 62%, compared to just 19% for Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS. Android use among them grew by 17% between 2012 and 2013.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.