graphicstockThis story originally appeared on PCMag
Think you’re hip like a teenager? If you spend a lot of time on Facebook, think again. According to a report from market research firm eMarketer, teens are leaving Facebook faster than expected as older users embrace the social network.
The firm predicts that Facebook will lose 2 million users ages 24 and younger in 2018. “This year, for the first time, less than half of U.S. internet users ages 12 to 17 will use Facebook via any device at least once per month,” eMarketer wrote in a blog post.
Facebook is still growing, but “older age groups” are driving that trend, eMarketer wrote. This year, Facebook is expected to reach 169.5 million U.S. users, up less than 1 percent from 2017. But at the same time, the number of U.S. Facebook users age 11 and younger is expected to decline by 9.3 percent, the firm predicted, while users ages 12 to 17 decrease 5.6 percent and users between 18 and 24 drop 5.8 percent.
Facebook recently started targeting younger audiences…
