Instagram is popular, but it has its pitfalls
According to the Cybersmile Foundation’s «Social America» study, Instagram is the most popular social media platform among younger generations, while Facebook has largely fallen out of favor. However, cyberbullying represents a significant downside.
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Instagram is the most popular social media platform among both Millenials and the subsequent Generation Z in the US, but it also has a problem. Young people believe it is the platform where cyberbullying is most prevalent.
The old giant Facebook, on the other hand, is the platform whose popularity is declining most significantly according to both generations and, according to Gen Z, the least relevant platform of all for young people.
Instagram clear top
For the study, Cybersmile surveyed more than 20,000 Americans aged 13 to 34 about their views on social media, from Twitter to YouTube to TikTok. The clear number one among social networks is Instagram, which a total of 44 percent name as their favorite platform and 41 percent consider as the most relevant social media platform for young people.
In both cases, Snapchat follows at a noticeable distance in second place. In terms of popularity, Instagram is also the second-fastest growing platform, edged out only by the up-and-coming video clip service TikTok.
Problem Cyberbullying
A clear downside of Instagram in the eyes of young people is cyberbullying. Among Gen Z, almost a third of respondents see the image and video service as platforms with the biggest problem in this area.
Among millenials, on the other hand, Facebook is considered the bullying stronghold. Across all respondents, Instagram comes out just worst at 26 percent, with Twitter following behind Facebook in third place of the cyberbullying problem zones, also by a small margin.
When it comes to cyberbullying, however, both age groups feel safest on Pinterest.
Facebook is not for young people
Not really surprisingly, Facebook is now relatively disengaged among U.S. youth. A total of 27 percent see it as the most irrelevant social network for young people. Only the business network LinkedIn performed similarly poorly, with millenials naming it even more often than Facebook.
There is agreement among the younger generations, however, that Facebook is falling in popularity among young people like no other platform. With just under a third of all mentions, it registered more than the numbers two and three among the popularity relegated, Tumblr and Skype, together. (pte)
