Facebook growth slows while other sites spike

Facebook tried to achieve the impossible: a social media platform that shared pictures, text and messaging all in one. Although Facebook’s userbase’s all-time high was a little over a billion, social media users are now opting out of Facebook for other platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 71 percent of teens have more than one social media account. Three-fourths of teens have Facebook, while a little over half have Snapchat and Instagram.

The study further finds that Instagram was the fastest growing company in 2014—with growth among adults increasing nine percent. Pinterest doubled its users over the last two years going from 15 percent to 31 percent, LinkedIn grew six percent since 2013, and Twitter grew five percent since 2014. In this time period, Facebook didn’t see a significant increase at all—usage remained at 70 percent, about the same as three years ago.

However, just under half of the population aged over 65 uses Facebook, which might correlate to the decline in youth users. Many teens reported they wanted to use social media that would be out of reach of their parents.