This Survey Says: Teens Are Fleeing Facebook; Instagram & Twitter Are More Popular

Add another survey to the mix of contradictory data about teens and Facebook. This one — by investment bank Piper Jaffray — found a huge dropoff in the last six months in the number of teens who say they use the social network.

How huge? Teen’s Facebook use plunged 72% in the spring of 2014 to 45% this fall. According to these results, Facebook is the third most-popular social network among teens, after Facebook’s photo sharing app Instagram, used by 76% of the 7,200 U.S. students surveyed, and Twitter (59%).

The results certainly jibe with the common belief that younger people have been fleeing Facebook for messaging apps and social networks that don’t include their parents as members. However, the conventional wisdom has been called into question by other recent surveys. In June Forrester Research and Niche, a college review site, published survey data showing that at least 75% of teens use Facebook.

Perhaps those numbers are shifting quickly. Interestingly, Piper Jaffray found that 4% of teens reported using Snapchat in the fall, up from 1% in the spring. That’s rapid growth but still a small total compared to the more established players.

You can download the full report here.

Here’s the Piper Jaffray chart:

The report also notes that teens actually want to be marketed at more on Instagram than Twitter and Facebook, saying:

38% of teens note Instagram as a favorable marketing channel to reach them vs. Twitter at 34%, Facebook at 21%

Hat tip: Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post.