Research: Facebook loses appeal to teenagers

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Facebook is losing its appeal to teenagers as more and more parents start using it to keep tabs on them, researchers have discovered.

According to Mail Online, researchers found that youngsters now consider the social networking site ‘dead and buried’ and are too embarrassed to post intimate details in case their mothers or fathers find out.

The research, which looked into the online habits of teenagers in eight European countries including the UK, found many young Facebook users were switching to alternatives such as Snapchat and WhatsApp.

The Global Social Media Impact study said teenagers were switching to Snapchat and WhatsApp.

A Facebook employee holds a phone that is running the new "Home" program during an event at Facebook headquarters in April 2013
A Facebook employee holds a phone that is running the new “Home” program during an event at Facebook headquarters in April 2013

Professor Daniel Miller of University College London, who worked on the Global Social Media Impact Study, said British youngsters were ‘embarrassed even to be associated with it’.

He added: ‘Young people are turning away in their droves and adopting other social networks instead, while the worst people of all, their parents, continue to use the service.’snapchat

WhatsApp: new platform drawing the teenagers
WhatsApp: new platform drawing the teenagers

Professor Miller said teenagers now regarded Facebook as ‘so uncool’, adding: ‘You can’t be young and free if you know your parents can access your every indiscretion. Young people care about style and status in relation to their peers, and Facebook is simply not cool any more.

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‘Where once parents worried about their children joining Facebook, the children now say it is their family that insists they stay there to post about their lives. Parents have worked out how to use the site and they see it as a way for the family to remain connected.

‘What appears to be the most seminal moment in a young person’s decision to leave Facebook was surely that dreaded day that your mum sends you a friend request.’

However, the study found many teenagers do continue to use Facebook to stay connected with older family members or siblings who have left home.

The research, funded by the European Union, looked at the behaviour of 16 to 18-year-olds over a 15-month period.

Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends from their university dormitory room in 2004.
He floated it on the US stock market eight years later for more than £60 billion.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2530197/Facebook-dead-buried-teenagers-switch-WhatsApp-Snapchat-dont-want-mum-dad-embarrassing-pictures.html#ixzz2okkJIlLz

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