If you’re trying to sell jeans or soda or a new boy band or a juicy vampire book, for the love of Justin Bieber get off of Facebook and start tweeting! Social media marketing for teens is as fickle and moody as the target audience itself, so it’s impossible to say absolutely that Twitter is currently the best way to keep in touch with teenage consumers. But a new batch of statistics says that more and more teens are choosing Twitter over Facebook.
The Los Angeles Times ran a report last week which chronicled the sudden teenager exodus from Facebook. Zuckerberg & Co. hardly have to worry that Facebook will soon become a social media old folks home. “Eight of 10 teens who are online use social networking sites — and more than 93 percent of those users have a Facebook account, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project,” the Times reports. But older users are the ones driving Facebook’s growth, meaning the kids are getting their social media kicks elsewhere.
Another recent Pew survey says that 31 percent of all social media users between the ages of 18 and 24 have Twitter accounts. But we’d guess the numbers could be even larger. Teens love Twitter because it’s more anonymous and conversation-driven. Hundreds of teens-only accounts like @TeensInLove and @ohteenquotes are popping up all over Twitter. These accounts are tailored to talk about the things on teens’ minds. Top trending topics with a heavy youth flare like #RihannaistheQueenofPop and #WatchingTeenWolf suggest that younger users aren’t just having fun on Twitter but dominating what folks are talking about. Likewise teencentric brands like The Hunger Games, Pepsi and Forever 21 are everywhere on Twitter, meaning that marketers are also getting wise to the sudden influx of younger users.
The current youthquake on Twitter surely has Twitter marketers drooling at the possibilities. But let’s get your thoughts, readers: Has Twitter gotten younger and more hip? Or is it just sillier and more immature? And do you think younger users listen to brands on Twitter like they do on Facebook? Sound off below!
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