Why Teens Prefer Tumblr and Ditching Facebook?

When Facebook was first developed in 2004, a lot of people (including myself) were skeptical. Many viewed the online platform as a way for teenage boys to keep tabs on their friends and potential girlfriends, send pictures of themselves posing in the latest fashion, and share an endless stream of useless information about their daily lives. Facebook was seen as a toy for the under 25s to develop their voyeuristic and narcissistic tendencies. However, if there is one thing capable of changing its stripes in record time, it's the internet. While in 2004 Facebook was primarily a tool for youth, it quickly transformed into a mutigenerational platform used for everything from keeping in touch with far-away relatives to career oriented self-promotion. It also revolutionized the way people communicate and made us excruciatingly aware of two very important phenomena: people love to observe other people, and they love to be observed.

The same phenomena that made Facebook so popular will also be its downfall. Just like with any addiction, one eventually needs more of the desired product in order to find satisfaction. In the case of the internet, people need better and updated versions of the same type of product. This is where Tumblr steps in.

Tumbler gives teenagers the ability to reach more people, share more pictures (and GIFs), and create their own online content. This means that they get a lot more visibility, and consequently, more dopamine. As one online blog so aptly pointed out, "Tumblr beats Facebook in everything. People spill their hearts out on Facebook and no one gives a s*it I spill my heart out on here and get props for it. You post something on Facebook, zero likes. Post it on Tumblr, 2,000 reblogs."

 According to a recent survey by Posterous co-founder Garry Tan....

              Tumblr was the favorite social network for the two age groups surveyed, ages 13-18 (teens) and 19-25 (young adults).

Here’s the breakdown per platform:

• Tumblr dominated, used regularly by 61% of teens and 57% of young adults surveyed.
• Facebook drew in 55% of teens and 52% of young adults.
• Twitter was used regularly by 22% of teens and 17% of young adults.
• Instagram drew in 21% of teens and only 11% of young adults.
• Snapchat (the newest of the platforms) earned 13% of teens and just 4% of young adults.

Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ grew faster than Facebook as well. 

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Facebook to challenge Amazon soon?

Houston: After making billions connect socially on its network, Facebook is testing a new feature designed to let users buy products directly from ads and posts on its news feed.

"With this feature, people on desktop or mobile can click the 'Buy' call-to-action button on ads and Page posts to purchase a product directly from a business, without leaving Facebook," the post reads.

In an image of what this feature looks like, a 'Buy' button sits in the bottom right corner of the ads that users normally see as they scroll through their Facebook news feeds.

This feature is currently in its test phase, so it is being used only for a few small and mid-size businesses in the US.

The "Buy" option will be available for specific products on Facebook's site and mobile app starting Thursday.

The announcement came Thursday on the company's 'Facebook for Business' blog, a resource for businesses that use Facebook to market their products.

Facebook has previously tried to enable purchasing on its site, but with little success, reports say.
'Facebook Credits', for example, was a virtual currency that allowed users to make purchases within games, one US dollar was equal to 10 Facebook Credits.

While this feature was disbanded in 2012, it has since been replaced by Facebook Game Cards that let users "buy items" in their "favorite games and apps."

Facebook had said earlier this year that it would avoid a direct purchasing feature on its news feed.
But Facebook is now feeling the pressure to compete with sites like Twitter, which recently released a 'buy now' button that lets users buy items directly from paid-for tweets and the online mega-giant Amazon, which packs its devices with features that take the users directly into the Amazon Store, compelling them to make purchases in the moment.

However, the nature of purchasing something with a simple tap on a screen, has recently come under scrutiny.

A federal lawsuit filed against Amazon last week alleges that the online retailer took in millions of dollars through in-app payments by unsuspecting children.

In the case, the Federal Trade Commission is contending that parents were unknowingly billed for charges made by their children while playing games that required actual currency which appeared to be part of the game and seemed no different than the games' play currency.

To assuage the concerns of privacy by its more than 1.2 billion users, Facebook says no credit or debit card information users share will be given to advertisers.

"We have built this feature with privacy in mind, and have taken steps to help make the payment experience safe and secure," the post reads.

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