Join us Dec. 1-3 in New Orleans for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit
There’s a narrative that’s taken place that takes as accepted fact that Facebook’s once ironclad grip on the fickle teen market has slipped, as evidenced by the surge of other apps like Instagram and Whatsapp, which Facebook paid a combined $20 billion to acquire.
It’s undeniable Instagram and Whatsapp, among others like Snapchat, which Facebook also reportedly offered to buy, are surging. But it turns out Facebook’s core service is doing just fine with teens. New data from Forrester bears this out, showing that Facebook is still the default social network with teenagers.
The researcher found that three quarters of teens said they used Facebook monthly, over twice that of Pinterest, Tumblr and Snapchat. Facebook use is more than Instagram and Whatsapp combined, according to Forrester.
Forrester surveyed over 4,500 teens for the survey.
The data is a bit of an about face to the marketer view of Facebook. After all, it was only in October that Facebook CFO David Ebersman admitted teens were using the service less frequently.
“The bottom line: The sky is not falling,” Forrester analyst Nate Elliott, who has been critical of Facebook in the past, wrote in a blog post. “Facebook does not have a problem attracting or retaining teen users.”
More in Marketing
For the agentic-curious: WTF is the Agentic RTB Framework?
It’s a new technical standard for running real-time bidding that focuses on efficiency.
Brands tap outside-the-box personalities to stand out as influencer marketing gets more competitive
Brands are getting more creative in their quests for influencers their competitors may not have already tapped.
As industry layoffs become the ‘new normal’, so does fear of AI’s impact on adland’s job market
A series of job cuts across the sector have left some execs struggling to find their next gig. The impact of AI could worsen the situation.