Facebook continues to face negative headlines on a daily basis. At the same time, Facebook is losing its young audience. Now the company wants to realign itself for young adults. Because they in particular are migrating away from the platform.
In the future, Facebook wants to “serve young adults” above all. To this end, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has realigned the teams internally so that “serving young adults becomes their north star.”
These statements of the Facebook founder come from a telephone conversation with Investor:innen, from which The Verge quotes. The background to this is the declining numbers among teenagers and young adults, which are apparently causing concern internally at Facebook.
Facebook is losing its young audience
The Verge reports internal documents in which researchers:inside have shared “alarming statistics.” According to the report, the number of youth users:of the Facebook app in the U.S. has dropped by 13 percent since 2019. Among young adults between 20 and 30, the user base declined by four percent in the same period.
Over the next two years, the number among teens is expected to drop by as much as another 45 percent. “The problem of aging is real,” the researchers:in write in the internal document.
If “fewer and fewer teens choose Facebook as they grow older,” the decline would be even more severe than previously predicted.
According to the report, Facebook “sees its aging user base as an existential threat to the long-term health” of the platform. The company is desperately trying to solve the problem.
What’s next for Facebook?
The problem is not new to Facebook, he said. The platform has been struggling to attract users under 30 since 2012. But recently, the problem has worsened dramatically, he said.
“Our products are still widely used by young people, but we face stiff competition from Snapchat and Tik Tok,” The Verge quoted Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne as saying.
All social media companies want teens to use their services. We are no different.
Young people perceive Facebook as boring
An internal presentation from March of this year shows that “most young adults perceive Facebook as a place for people in their 40s and 50s.”
Young adults perceive content as boring, misleading and negative. They often have to scroll past irrelevant content to get to what is important.
In addition, he said, it is problematic that young user:ins associate Facebook negatively. These included concerns about privacy, as well as harm to their well-being.
According to the presentation, account signups for user:ins under the age of 18 in the app’s top five countries were down 26 percent year-over-year. Teenagers would have sent 16 percent fewer messages compared to the previous year.
What changes are expected to save Facebook?
But how can the loss of importance within the important young target group be stopped? Mark Zuckerberg apparently wants to dig deep into his pockets. He announced to investors that the upcoming changes will take years.
These also affect subsidiary Instagram. According to Zuckerberg, there will be “significant changes” here. With an eye on competitor Tik Tok, the network as a whole is to focus more on video content. Reels are to become “a more central part of the experience.
Facebook has not yet announced the specific plans. However, they are expected to have the effect that the numbers of older users:inside will grow more slowly than they would have otherwise. While this is a cutback, it is also “the right approach” for its platforms, according to Zuckerberg.
