Facebook’s Face is Getting a Little Older
For the first time, less than 50% of the U.S. internet users 12 to 17 will use Facebook (once or more per month). 
Facebook may still be growing, but it is growing older. According to eMarketer, U.S. Facebook users ages 11 and younger will decline by 9.3%. Facebook will lose 2 million users 24 and younger this year.
Instagram and Snapchat will increase, but so will new upstarts in the social sharing world. But, if more parents start using the platforms, they may not be considered cool in the eyes of a younger generation. The real problem with Facebook is that parents, teachers, coaches and a host of advertisers from colleges to banks are also on Facebook so there is little privacy for teens as they post selfies and other thoughts.
Don’t cry for Facebook; it owns Instagram, so there is a good chance the Facebook ecosystem will keep kids engaged and grow revenues for ad sales. Yet for marketers who want to appear hip and cool, you may need to gravitate from Facebook and onto other marketing platforms. If you want to see mainstream, stay on Facebook. It is the social media for working people and grandparents.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
