If you’re trying to reach the Gen Z — teens — you’ll not find them on Facebook anymore! Amazingly, they’re not flocking to TikTok either — and that’s a good thing (I’ll explain why in a bit.) They are going to YouTube! Yes, YouTube!
Facebook and TikTok’s loss is YouTube‘s Gain
A recent Pew Research Center survey of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 revealed that Facebook usage dropped from 71% in 2015 to 32% in 2022! Here are the top 10 apps that teens use regularly…
- YouTube (93%)
- TikTok (63% down from 67%)
- Snapchat (60%)
- Instagram (59%)
- Facebook (33%)
- X [formerly Twitter](20%)
- Twitch (17%)
- WhatsApp 21%)
- Reddit (14%)
Note: Tumblr fell off completely.
Social Media Usage Among US Teens
- Nearly 75% visit YouTube daily, and 41% say they visit several times daily.
- 58% visit TikTok daily, and 32% say they visit several times daily.
- 51% visit Snapchat daily, including 29% who visit several times daily.
- 50% visit Instagram daily, including 27% who visit several times daily.
When asked if it would be hard to give up social media, 58% said it would be “challenging” to do so.
(Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/facebook-popularity-with-teens/461153/)
While people, in general, are increasingly more involved in social media, they’re actually losing basic person-to-person social skills, that is relationality. They’re failing in relationships. We started seeing this with the advent of computers and video games. It’s worse now.
What Makes Video so Popular for Teens and Others
Like I’ve said many times in workshops, people would rather watch a 2-minute video than read a page of text. So much so, that’s why teens are leaving sites like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), which are more text-based, and flocking to YouTube. Yes, even 280-text characters on X is too much! Nevertheless, X does have its benefits in exposure and SEO, so don’t rule it out completely.
Good News for You!
The fact that it’s YouTube and not another platform is great! It’s owned by Google and when optimized, you can take advantage of its algorithm to be discovered. However, you do need a video marketing strategy. Here are some tips, but each business is different and you may need a little assistance with producing the videos.
Bad News About TikTok
TikTok is bad news. Period. Here’s why…
- On June 29, 2022, the U.S. FCC commissioner told Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. Why? It’s owned and run by a Chinese company and they use the app to spy on us. That’s the Federal Communications Commission.
- The U.S. FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, issued a complaint against TikTok for Violating Child Privacy Regulations.
- And yesterday, the U.K.’s Telegraph, published, “TikTok isn’t just a threat to our national security – it’s endangering our children’s health“. Kids have died because they were attempting TikTok challenges.
“TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface. It is not just an app for sharing funny videos or meme. That’s the sheep’s clothing,” he said in the letter. “At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.”
CNBC
So, get off TikTok. Delete it from your phones. You don’t need it. Focus on YouTube videos and optimizing your channel and the individual videos you upload.
What about Facebook?
Facebook still has the most users and they updated its algorithm to focus more on videos and reels. Yes, they want to be like TikTok. At least Facebook is still an American company. Nevertheless, this shows you that…
- Social Media is constantly evolving and your marketing needs to also.
- Facebook is not the end-all-be-all.
- Video is still the best method of reaching your audience.
That’s why you need to do your research and keep up with all this stuff. Follow me on social media as I post the latest news from the digital marketing experts that I follow.
There’s no need to be overwhelmed. I can guide you through all this. Let’s do a FREE 15-minute consult. Click here to schedule.
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