Facebook might be having a midlife crisis. More precariously, it is at a time when the number of young users are finding solace on much younger platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest. Facebook is trying hard to woo the younger lot which made it the biggest country in terms of Facebook users in the world last year. With about 250 million users and counting, it has maintained a comfortable margin against the second biggest country in terms Facebook users, the US.
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| Number of Facebook users in countries (in millions) |
The phenomenon is not restricted to any particular country
or continent, this is spread across the globe, more so in western countries.
Guardian quoted in one of its report that teens and young adults are ditching
Facebook, while its popularity grew among people over 55 years. It went on to
state that in 2018, 2.2 million 12- to 17-year-olds and 4.5 million 18- to
24-year-olds will regularly use Facebook in the UK, 700,000 fewer than in 2017,
as younger users defect to services such as Snapchat.
Some of the reasons that has led to this phenomenon is, Facebook is facing competition from Pinterest and Instagram which have novelty and exclusivity factors attached to it as yet. This is an obvious advantage to the younger audience. Secondly, with lot of people in their 40s and 50s joining Facebook, a lot of young people are finding their parents and relatives on the network and are trying to avoid activities that make them cognate to these people. Thirdly, advertising has so far been non-intrusive in case of other platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest unlike Facebook. This makes these platforms friendlier. Fourthly, Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are more visual and attractive, especially to the younger audience. With falling data costs, it is cheaper and easier to access picture and video content, hence upping the usage of these platforms against Facebook. Finally, Facebook due to its multiple functionality is considered as a generic social solutions without a serious attempt to solver one networking problem. Other platforms have considerably simpler usage features and functionalities, making them practical and relevant to the younger audience.
It is strange then, that out of the series of advertisements that Facebook came up with in a recent campaign, the first one had a protagonist, who ostensibly calls himself Sandy and boasts his flamboyant yet family-oriented lifestyle. Sandy is in his fifties. Is it a self-goal or a bigger strategy by Facebook? At a time when Facebook needs to strengthen its credentials as a young social network, for functional as well as demographic reasons (two-third of India population is below 35 years of age), is promoting itself as a preferred social networking medium of people in fifties a good strategy?
Some of the reasons that has led to this phenomenon is, Facebook is facing competition from Pinterest and Instagram which have novelty and exclusivity factors attached to it as yet. This is an obvious advantage to the younger audience. Secondly, with lot of people in their 40s and 50s joining Facebook, a lot of young people are finding their parents and relatives on the network and are trying to avoid activities that make them cognate to these people. Thirdly, advertising has so far been non-intrusive in case of other platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest unlike Facebook. This makes these platforms friendlier. Fourthly, Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are more visual and attractive, especially to the younger audience. With falling data costs, it is cheaper and easier to access picture and video content, hence upping the usage of these platforms against Facebook. Finally, Facebook due to its multiple functionality is considered as a generic social solutions without a serious attempt to solver one networking problem. Other platforms have considerably simpler usage features and functionalities, making them practical and relevant to the younger audience.
It is strange then, that out of the series of advertisements that Facebook came up with in a recent campaign, the first one had a protagonist, who ostensibly calls himself Sandy and boasts his flamboyant yet family-oriented lifestyle. Sandy is in his fifties. Is it a self-goal or a bigger strategy by Facebook? At a time when Facebook needs to strengthen its credentials as a young social network, for functional as well as demographic reasons (two-third of India population is below 35 years of age), is promoting itself as a preferred social networking medium of people in fifties a good strategy?
 |
| I am Sandy! |
Facebook, however, has supplemented this ad with other ads too that are having younger protagonists, it is still baffling that why would Facebook want to woo a segment of older population at the cost of a swelling younger audience. The segment which has made Facebook what it is in India, the biggest social network in the country and the country with the largest number of Facebook users in the world? Time will tell.
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