SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook is getting less and less cool -- at least among teens.
A report Thursday by Frank N. Magid Associates Inc. found that the portion of 13- to 17-year-old social-media users in the United States on Facebook slipped to 88 percent this year from 94 percent in 2013 and 95 percent in 2012. In the same period, Twitter and messaging applications rose in popularity in that age group, the study showed.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company first warned a year ago that teens weren't using its website as often as before. Facebook stopped discussing teen usage on its earnings calls after last year's disclosure alarmed investors. While the issue was all but forgotten as the company's advertising revenue reached new highs, it's a bigger concern now, according to Tero Kuittinen, a managing director at Magid in New York.
Among 13- to 17-year-olds, Twitter usage climbed 2 percentage points to 48 percent, according to the report.
While more people use Facebook and its messaging app than any competitor, its user base tends to be older, with 55 percent of Facebook Messenger users being 37 or younger. By the same measure, 86 percent of Snapchat's users and 83 percent of Kik Interactive's users are under 37. Facebook sought to buy Snapchat last year for more than $3 billion and was rebuffed.
Vanessa Chan, a spokesman for Facebook, declined to comment on Magid's report.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been working to diversify the company's offering beyond the main Facebook application. He acquired Instagram, the photo-sharing application, in 2012 for less than $1 billion. This year, Facebook also purchased messaging application WhatsApp Inc. for about $18 billion.
The Instagram purchase is showing gains, with Citigroup Inc. estimating the app is worth $35 billion, due to its faster- than-anticipated user growth. Instagram is especially popular among younger users.