Facebook is not being used by teens as much the corporation wants, and they’ve noticed.

Facebook has spent years researching its declining popularity amongst teenagers, and teens using the app in the US has declined by 13 percent since 2019. A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to CNN, “Yes, we’re a business and we make profit, but the idea that we do so at the expense of people’s safety or wellbeing misunderstands where our own commercial interests lie.”

So why is no one using it? What are the real problems with the app? Well the hard truth is that it doesn’t entertain us.

If increasingly fewer teens and young adults are choosing Facebook as they get older, the company would suffer more than it has revolving around the decrease of teens using the app. 

Our society is so focused on using social media to be entertained, that an app full of random cliché ¨Mom house décor groups¨ and ¨happy birthday grandma!¨ posts all over their feed isn’t too exciting. We like to see more drama and less danger, and Facebook is starting to have a big increase in danger.

The realistic and meaningful reason of why teens are less likely to enjoy this app is the perverted and disgusting human trafficking groups people can and have started. 

Frances Haugens, a former Facebook employee, stated to CNN that, “Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy.” Facebook is noticing content in some non-English-speaking countries, and how human traffickers have used these platforms to exploit people.

This shows how invisible the decline is among teens and young adults to outsiders. Now attracting teens has long been a challenge for Facebook, but user growth amongst the slightly older ¨young adults,¨ ages from 18-29, has been on a decrease for nearly a decade.

Facebook is also in competition with other teen-centered apps, those being TikTok (coming at number one), Instagram, Discord, Twitter, and Snapchat. One study found that ¨teens can mold the households perception of Instagram.”

Based on how teens use and talk about the app, it could be valuable for getting their parents or siblings to sign up. An internal report shared, ¨if this holds at scale, teens could be creating sharing barriers for upcoming generations.¨