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A new study has confirmed what we've long expected:Facebook is no longer the most popular social media site among teens ages 13 to 17. The Pew Research Center revealed on Thursday that only 51% of US teens use Facebook. That's a 20% drop since 2015, the last time the firm surveyed teens' social media habits. Now, YouTube is the most popular platform among teens, about 85% say they use it. Not surprisingly, teens are also active on Instagram (72%) and Snapchat (69%). Meanwhile, Twitter followed at 32%, and Tumblr's popularity (14%) remained the same since the 2015 survey.

The survey discovered lower-income teens "are more likely to gravitate toward Facebook than those from higher-income households." The Pew study also found smartphone growth among teens has jumped significantly since 2015 - 95% of teens say they own one, compared to 75% in 2015.

24% of teens go online “almost constantly,” facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones.

African-American and Hispanic youth report more frequent internet use than white teens. Among African-American teens, 34% report going online “almost constantly” as do 32% of Hispanic teens, while 19% of white teens go online that often.

71% of teens use more than one social network site

30% of teens name Twitter as their most important social network, close behind the 33% who tab Facebook, per results [pdf] from Piper Jaffray’s 25th Semi-Annual teen research project, which surveyed more than 5,000 teens.

the proportion of teens naming Facebook as their most important has dropped 9% points, while those naming Twitter have grown by 3% points. Instagram is also gaining, up 5% points to 17% indicating it as their most important social network.

Facebook’s drop is a worrisome sign for the social network, as teens are often used as a leading indicator of future trends. According to data from Experian Hitwise, Facebook’s leading share of US visits to social networking sites and forums has dropped from 63.2% in March 2012 to 58.5% in March 2013.

the majority of teens now consider Facebook the alternate choice. 

This speaks to a shift in thinking amongst teens, in that privacy has become a concern. Users still want to be connected, but want to choose their connections more carefully, and compartmentalize their relationships. They want to share their lives, but to target where, what, and sometimes how long something is shown.

78% of our respondents counted among those who accessed their favorite social media application at least three times a day. Regardless of which app selected (and make no mistake, Facebook is included), users log on several times daily

After Facebook Watch, Lasso, and IGTV failed to become hits with teens, the company has been quietly developing another youthful video product. Multiple sources confirm that Facebook has spent months building LOL, a special feed of funny videos and GIF-like clips.

LOL is currently in private beta with around 100 high school students who signed non-disclosure agreements with parental consent to do focus groups and one-on-one testing with Facebook staff.

Facebook confirmed it is privately testing LOL as a home for funny meme content with a very small number of US users. While those testers experience LOL as a replacement for their Watch tab, Facebook says there’s no plans to roll out LOL in Watch and the team is still finalizing whether it will become a separate feature in one of Facebook’s main app or a standalone app. Facebook declined to give a formal statement but told us the details we had were accurate.With teens increasingly turning to ephemeral Stories for sharing and content consumption, Facebook is desperate to lure them back to its easily-monetizable feeds.

Cable subscriptions are becoming less essential for teens at home, while online streaming is more critical.

Instagram ranked as the most important social network, exceeding Twitter and Facebook for the first time in survey history

Big brands usually take their ad campaigns very seriously. But sometimes they don’t. In their latest attempt to win over the coveted Generation Z, companies from Uber to Netflix are laughing at themselves in sponsored memes, or funny vignettes, on Instagram. 

Meme accounts are a way for brands to reach a powerful audience that doesn’t consume media in the same way their parents and grandparents did. Gen Z, roughly between the ages of 7 and 22,  is the biggest consumer cohort globally, with spending power to the tune of more than $143 billion in the U.S. alone. And while Instagram remains the most popular social platform among teenagers, Dino said meme accounts are one of the fastest growing parts of Instagram.

It’s not altogether clear whether the girls were aware of the scam, but they did appear to pose for pictures with rowing machines to be sent onto USC’s subcommittee for athletic admission. (Though the swindle seemed to work beautifully—twice!

With a popular YouTube channel and two highly trafficked Instagram accounts between them, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose are almost as popular online as their mom

Now that the admissions scheme has been exposed, internet detectives are racing to rummage through the girls’ old social media posts and interviews, which are not in short supply, for newly incriminating or amusing material. And they are finding plenty, since the girls have been putting their lives online themselves for years—with nary a mention of an early-morning crew practice we can find.

“There’s a lot of exciting work being done around augmented reality,” an Instagram spokesperson said when asked about the app copying Snapchat’s face filters. “We’ve heard from our community that they want more creative ways to share everyday moments and engage with friends. With face filters, they have more tools than ever at their fingertips, and all in one place.” While that dodges the question a bit, the last part is revealing. Instagram wants to be the one-stop shop for visual communication

Instagram’s spin on Snapchat’s selfie masks is designed to make them simple and less wacky so they appeal to users beyond teens