We love Facebook, don’t we? It is still the most popular social networking site today. But often you will find people complaining about non-replies, delayed response, non-acceptance of a requests, missing birthday wishes, and many more activities where social expectations were not met on Facebook. Now according to a recent research, teenagers today are not so enthusiastic about using their Facebook account; just because it demands too much to bother.
The latest report from Pew Research Centre finds that even though youngsters continue to share more personal information on their Facebook profiles; they are equally concerned about choosing Private settings for their Facebook accounts, thereby making sure that their profiles are reachable to their close friends.
Pew shares a comparison chart called ‘What teens post’ between 2006 and 2012 and reports that:
“Focus group discussions with teens show that they have waning enthusiasm for Facebook, disliking the increasing adult presence, people sharing excessively, and stressful “drama that they described as happening frequently on the site,” but they keep using it because participation is an important part of overall teenage socializing”
Facebook Profiles are kept private
The research reveals that a staggering 60% of teen Facebook users keep their profiles private, and most choose them so that only approved friends are able to view the content that they post. Another 25% have a partially private profile, set in such a way that friends of their friends can see what they post. Only 14% of teens say that their profile is completely public.
The report also highlights the behavior of Girls Vs Boys users. Girls outnumbered Boys, by 70% to 50%, when it comes to having a private profile. On the contrary, boys are ahead of girls, by 20% to 8%, when it comes to having a full public profile that everyone can see.
Twitter and Instagram users could increase
Teens who use other social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram, expressed feeling that these platforms are more comfortable than Facebook. They find that constraints of Facebook, where you are expected to meet social expectations through your replies and updates, are not present on other sites. Although they still use Facebook actively, but are most likely to migrate to other social networks to avoid unnecessary pressures.
Even though Twitter is not comparable to Facebook which attracts 77% of online teens, still 24% of online teens now use Twitter, a figure that is up by 16% from 2011.
Pew research brings out some really striking facts that make you think hard. Let’s read few of teens’ opinion those were reported.
A female, age 14 says,
“I think Facebook can be fun, but also it’s drama central. On Facebook, people imply things and say things, even just by a like, that they wouldn’t say in real life.”
Dilemma about parents – Male (age 17):
“It sucks… Because then they [my parents] start asking me questions like why are you doing this, why are you doing that. It’s like, it’s my Facebook. If I don’t get privacy at home, at least, I think, I should get privacy on a social network.”
“Party tweets might get you busted”
Need to look good – Female (age 14):
“OK, so I do post a good amount of pictures, I think. Sometimes it’s a very stressful thing when it comes to your profile picture. Because one should be better than the last, but it’s so hard.
Are you in agreement with these teens’ concern or is the PEW research report exaggerating? Let us know your views.
