I recently gave a presentation on social media to a local non-profit and had the opportunity to review some of the latest statistics when it comes to the use of social media.
Frankly, I knew that there has been a shift away from Facebook for some younger people but even I was surprised by the trendlines. It’s happening much quicker and in bigger numbers than you might think.
And even more surprising, the big winner is: Snapchat.
Yep, the little app that I talked about in 2013. (Think about how quickly and rapidly the technology has changed in less than four years.) Put another way, the disappearing social media sites that were just getting started are now big.
How huge? According to a new study of what social media sites college students use first, fifty-eight percent of college students said they open Snapchat first, compared with 27 percent who chose Instagram, 13 percent who said Facebook and the 2 percent who opt for LinkedIn.
Another recent survey by Pew Internet found that 56 percent of smartphone users between 18-29 years old use auto-delete apps like Snapchat. That is more than four times the share of users between 30-49 years told.
(Teen usage is even higher with Facebook as the fourth most popular app, behind Snapchat, Instagram & Twitter, according to a Piper Jaffray Fall 2016 study.)
Let’s not, however, write off Facebook just yet. A whopping 79 percent of online users are still on Facebook. But these overall statistics show that Facebook has lost it’s exclusive hold on younger online users.
From an employment law context, this continues to cause all sorts of headaches.
With disappearing snaps, for example, it can be difficult for employers to track down and monitor harassment in the workplace. (The fact that some Silicon Valley companies are under scrutiny is perhaps not that surprising, if still disappointing.)
And when it comes to document retention, in the case of a lawsuit, apps like Snapchat are a challenge as an employer tries to preserve relevant information.
For employers, I think it’s important to recognize that we’re in the next generation of social media apps. If you’ve just caught up to Facebook, you’re already behind the curve.
What may be next? That’s hard to predict. Some teens I know are using apps like Musical.ly to share content. (Never heard of it? Well, over 100M users are on it.)
Other types of live broadcasting apps, building off of Facebook Live, continue to grow as well.
Employers would be wise to expand their horizons. A broad social media use policy defining proper use when it comes to the workplace is still a key component. While you may be on Facebook, the generation entering your workplace just isn’t on Facebook as much anymore.