But who likes this stuff? Who really wants to use it? I don't know anyone especially the younger crowd as I have teenagers, that want anything to do with facebook
I use Messenger with a group of friends because it seems to be a pretty reliable way of group texting between iOS and Android (text messages were coming in out of order) and we all have Facebook accounts.
We all use Facebook to plan group events. Things like birthday parties, vacations, and where we're all going to stay for weddings.
I'm in a few local Facebook groups for things like trail running and hiking. They're great for getting information about current conditions.
Facebook Marketplace has been better than Craigslist or Offerup since it's a little more likely to be a real person (or at least it's a little easier to tell if they are based on their profile.)
It' also nice that I don't need to have a dozen different accounts to do all this stuff.
I'm not a teenager, but all the teenagers I know use Instagram.
I can imagine that Facebook will be able to create a decent platform for young people if they only have to worry about adding features/promoting content that young people like.
"I don't think anybody in the world buys fish because I live in Montana and my kids hate it"
"According to a recent study by Edison Research, Facebook is hemorrhaging users in the US, losing about 15 million people since 2017. The largest drop is among teen users and millennials."
"As of February 2019, 62% of 12-34 year olds in the US log into Facebook. This is down from 79% in 2017, and represents about 11 million of of the overall decrease"
"Senior citizens in the US are the fastest growing group of Facebook users, nearly doubling in numbers between 2012 and 2019, a vast shift from the platform’s beginnings as a service for college students."
Hearing younger folks say the same thing first hand only validates the research and the numerous articles. All of the statistical data can be skewed and I imagine any small study (pew, edison) is going to have different results. So where does that leave me? We'll when you have backyard full of teenagers that are all well off with mobile devices and all of them tell you facebook is for boomers and talking to grandma, that tends to hold a little weight coupled with some of the statistical data. Interestingly enough we can find data that makes the opposite claim so what does one do when presented with competing data? They use the data they have which in this case is directly from a reputable demographic/source.
It's sort of like Reddit, but a little less crappy.
That said I don't really use it because I have a very bad memory of the company and the site, so the hurdle to ever opening it up is quite high.