YouTube Overtakes Facebook As Most Popular Site Among Teens

Facebook may be a giant but an increasing range of data points shows it slipping among teens. The most recent news came from a teen survey by Piper Jaffray asking teens about their favorite sites. Last year Facebook was no. 1 and this year YouTube takes top honors. Facebook may still have the most teens on its network but its central status is slowly shifting towards what some might assume is an inevitable death by a thousand cuts.

As teens have grown increasingly fond of messaging and media sharing apps like Snapchat, alternative social networks like Ask.fm and established powers Twitter and Tumblr, many have wondered when we'd see an effect on Facebook.

In late October, in their quarterly report, Facebook admitted to a "quarter-over-quarter decline in daily usage by younger teenagers." Then a survey by Piper Jaffray showed Twitter to be the most "important" social network among teens with Instagram tying Facebook.

YouTube Passes Facebook As Most Popular Site Among Teens

Now The Futures Company is reporting findings from a teen survey relating to favorite websites, not just social networks, that reveal YouTube to have overtaken Facebook as the most popular site among teens:

"Fifty percent of teens surveyed cited YouTube as their favorite site versus 45.2% for Facebook."

"Last year, Facebook was the most popular site among 12- to 15-year-olds…[This year] "41.6% of those aged 12 to 15 said Facebook was their favorite website compared to 48% of teens overall."

That said, Facebook is still the most popular site for 20-somethings and still has the most teens by sheer volume.

What this means for both Facebook and musicians remains to be seen. We haven't had social networks with the potential to stick around for extended periods before Facebook. The fact that it's grown to include families and businesses has made it a connecting point for people across generations.

The possibility that teens will distance themselves from Facebook now and reconnect at a later date is very high. While Gen Y had an abnormal fondness for their parents as youth (said the aging late-stage baby boomer), upcoming generations may return to a more normal distancing/individuation process followed by reconnection with family, possibly even using Facebook as a way in.

So we'll see what happens to Facebook over time given much of this territory is new.

But What Does This Really Mean To Musicians?

But for musicians the situation is, in many respects, exactly the same as it's always been.

Go where your fans are regardless of larger trends, connect with them on their turf and then lure them back to your official site where you'll delight them with the best content available because you're the authority on your own act.

More:

• Facebook Confirms Drop In Teen Use, Valuation Falls $18 Billion
• Teens Are Moving From Facebook To Twitter [Pew Study]
• SEO For Musicians: "Don't Chase The Algorithm"

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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