Facebook is Not Cool

I enjoy Facebook. When I last checked, I had over 1,250 “friends” on the social media site.  I have found it a great way to stay in touch with family out of state, network with friends and keep up with people who were part of my ministry at one time.  I have also found Facebook a great way to network with people who want to follow my ministry.  I have tried Twitter, and still have account but quite frankly have never gotten in to it.  It probably has something to do with having to limit myself to one hundred and forty-four characters.  I guess I am too wordy for that.

I recently read an article that caused me to reconsider my time on Facebook. Evidently Facebook is for “old people” and if I want to stay in touch with millennials my time would be better invested elsewhere.  It seems that Facebook is not cool.  While it is still the top social media site, many young adults are avoiding it.  While 70% of Americans access Facebook on a weekly basis, but only 36% of those users are ages 18-34.  While that is still a good number of young adults, it pales in comparison to other social media sites. 

For millennials, Instagram and Snapchat are where the action is.  Instagram is a distant second to Facebook in popularity with 32% of American using the service weekly, but almost half (46%) of those are millennials.  Snapchat is the fourth most popular behind Twitter with 25% of American accessing the service weekly, but over half of those (53%) are between the ages of 18-34.  By my calculations that means over 80% of millennials use those services. 

I guess I should not be surprised.  For one thing, young folks have avoided Facebook because so many “older adults,” like their parents, utilize the social media site.  I think a better reason is that Instagram and Snapchat allows them to communicate in a way that is more in their comfort zone.  Both rely more on visual images than words.  Instagram is not just about pictures.  Recently it has offered the option of video and even live streaming.  Snapchat introduced the concept of using your phone’s camera has a way to send messages.   An additional advantage is the fact that messages disappear as soon as they are read.  Sound to me like you can even say anything you want without being held accountable.

If there is a message here, it is that those who want to communicate with millennials need to learn to speak their language and communicate on their level.  As for me, I will continue to use Facebook, even if it makes me “uncool, but am going to have to check out this Instagram thing, at least.