smwnyc 2017 - big spaceship - the state of social for teens

Teens & Social Media

3 PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL ©2017

Katie Minard Victor Piñeiro


115

85

85

80

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Out of 120 students… (In January, 2014)


Streaks Bullying Influencers Ephemeral media Stories Messaging apps Memes gone mainstream


Our Research

300 students 12 schools Mostly 14-18 y/os Cultural & socioeconomic diversity

What We Uncovered


It’s a two-horse race. There is no third.


Facebook and Twitter are

“Everyone's mom and grandparents are on there.”

24.8% Use it

3% Say it’s their favorite app

“I have the app downloaded but I never use it.”

33.8% Use it

3.8% Say it’s their favorite app

!


“It’s just like Instagram just not as popular.”

13.2% Use it

3% Say it’s their favorite app

“It's slowly dying and many people prefer Snapchat or Instagram.” 15%

Use it



“It is a poor excuse for talent.”

7.4% Say it’s their

favorite messaging app

The up-and-comers aren’t " either

Snapchat vs. Instagram


“You can do so many things like see what people are doing constantly, message them, video chat and more.” 87.6%

Use it


“You can visually see what people want to say but rather than words people use pictures and videos.”

82.5% Use it


Is it actually a two-horse race?


26.9% Use Snapchat a little bit

more than Instagram

Nope. Snapchat is

26.5% Use Snapchat a lot more

than Instagram

#51.7%

Say Snapchat is more popular than Instagram at

their school

$


Snapchat is very clearly

$


Especially when it comes to Stories

70.1% Use Snapchat Stories

3% Use Instagram Stories

13.7% Use both


Though most teens use Snaps more than Stories

7% Say they mostly use Stories

19.7% Say they use both equally

67.2% Say they mostly use Snaps


And that communication is constant

26.7% Send 10-50 Snaps per day

19.1% Send 100 or more Snaps per

day

17.4% Send 5-10 Snaps per day

61.6% Have multiple Snapchat

streaks going with lots of friends

“People are extremely protective over their streaks. Personally, I can't wait until I have one over 1,000 days.”

“I constantly Snapchat my streaks to make sure our streaks are in tact.”


So why is Snapchat so loved?

“People enjoy the instant gratification of Snapchat. There is immediate interaction and response, teens crave stimuli and attention. All of which is possible on the app.”

“Snapchat is more personal and resembles texting, which is unlikely to

fade in popularity.”

“Snapchat is coming up with better and more exciting ideas.”

“Snapchat is more intimate you can watch celebrities you follow doing everyday things and the same with friends on their story.You can snap memories and more people actually prefer using snapchat's camera then using their own camera app.”


Why Snapchat over Instagram?

“Because I get to actually talk to my friends not just look at their pictures.”

“It only lasts a day and people don't have to like it or comment; you just put it up there and people watch.”

“Because I think it is a different platform almost, more personal with your friends... Instagram is more public to people you don't know that well”

“Because Snapchat is more of a communication thing than instagram, and I'd rather talk to people than stare

at their posts.”

“Snapchat is more of a way to communicate with other people and Instagram is just looking at pictures that people have posted. I prefer to talk to other people than just look at pictures of their daily activities.”

“I don't really like Instagram because we are valued by how many likes and comments we get instead of who we really are.”


Ultimately it comes down to this.

Communication & Connection

Broadcasting & Validation

VS.


Ultimately it comes down to this.

Communication & Connection

Broadcasting & Validation

VS. ●  Instant Gratification ●  Ephemeral ●  Similar to messaging ●  More playful ●  Conversational ●  A better camera ●  STREAKS

●  Post & wait ●  Permanent ●  Popularity barometer ●  Bullying space ●  Aspirational self ●  Rarely used as camera ●  Stories…?


Instagram is the place for celebrities and influencers

51.6% Follow celebs and

influencers on Snapchat

84.2% Follow celebs and

influencers on Instagram

Is Facebook Really %? %


But it’s a life stage platform

“If more than just older people used it I would say Facebook [was my favorite social media app] due to the fact that it's a mix of everything.”

Instagram because when we get to college I think we won't have time for Snapchat and we will only have time to update instagram every once and a while.

As I get older I feel like my generation will start focusing more on sharing pictures with family and such on instagram and not so much talking to everyone on snapchat

Because once you get older Snapchat will sound like a little kids app , so most of us will be using imessage.

What Does This Mean For Us?


Teens want to talk to each other.

Above all, teens want to use social media to truly connect with their friends. They want to see their friends faces (even if they’re puking rainbows) on Snapchat, they want to trade inside jokes over one-to-one chat, and they want it to be private. Unlike older generations, their social media value doesn’t correlate to number of likes.


Instagram = Good For Public Figures

While teens may value one-to-one communication and connection via Snapchat for interacting with friends, they’d rather see broadcasts from celebrities and influencers on Instagram. When utilizing influencers and creating your own stories for a brand, Instagram is the way to go.


Affinity Matters

Snapchat is the king of social for teens because they genuinely love the platform. Because of that love they continue to use the app constantly. And while they like Instagram, they love Snapchat more and that is reflected in their usage.