Facebook is for the birds. The snowbirds and their kids specifically. 

The Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, and Generation X cling to their Facebook for precious updates while Millennials and Gen Z’ers are scouring Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to find their entertainment and news. Facebook’s increasingly worrisome history regarding fake news and data breaches has woken up the more socially conscious generations and pushed them to other social media platforms. This is certainly something to consider when looking at which audiences you’re marketing to and want to see your content.

TechCrunch has gone so far as to call Facebook “dead” to Gen Z. That’s not entirely true as there is still a large percentage of Gen Z’ers still using the site, it’s just that the number has been steadily decreasing. In 2017, the number for Gen Z and Millenials using the site was 79% with it going down to 67% the next year and eventually down to 62% in early 2019. 

While the previously mentioned reasons are part of why the younger generations are migrating to Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok more, it may also have to do with an influx of older people using Facebook to keep in touch with their friends and post considerably more often than their younger peers. 

This is all to say that if you’re looking to market toward a younger audience, it is time to strongly consider moving some of your content away from Facebook. Now is the time to shift toward the likes of Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. 

 

Instagram has passed one billion users, making it the second-most popular platform behind Facebook. TikTok is rapidly growing as well with 800 million active users, while Snapchat has a shade under 250 million users. If you want to be seen, there are plenty of places to do it outside of Facebook so consider that when you look at which audience you’re looking to target. Half the battle is knowing who you want to market to and to do that you need to know what your audience enjoys.

 

TikTok and Instagram are two of the fastest growing social media platforms available right now and it does not appear that they are slowing down any time soon. If you’re looking to shift away from Facebook or even just diversify your audience portfolio, those two vehicles are going to be your best bet in doing so. With over 1.6 billion “likes” handed out per day on Instagram and TikTok receiving the highest social media engagement rates per post, it’s safe to say that they will continue to become more popular and perhaps take over the social media landscape from Facebook.