GlobalWebIndex: Business opportunities in mobile social networking for teenagers

In the eyes of middle-aged and elderly students, teenagers are outliers. Each generation will always find huge differences between the next generation and themselves. Fortunately, in terms of the degree of use of social networks, Internet people can better understand these teenagers through the following data from GlobalWebIndex's Q1 2014 Teens Audience Report.

Teenagers are the main force of social networks

Users aged 25-34 are now the majority in most mainstream social networks, and the rise of mobile social applications has exacerbated this trend. The number of global users of mainstream social networks such as Snapchat, Kik, and WeChat has increased by more than 50%.

Facebook, a centipede, is still alive even after death

Despite the rapid rise of various mobile social applications, Facebook is still the most mainstream social application in the world. Excluding China, 87% of teenagers around the world have Facebook accounts, but the number of active users has dropped from 48% to 39%. This reality is also faced by other mainstream social networks such as YouTube (-7%), Twitter (-3%), Google Plus (-4%), etc.

The rise of mobile instant social networking

Behind this is the popularity of mobile and real-time social networks. Teenagers now spend more time using the Internet via their mobile phones, with 65% using it for more than an hour a day, 18% higher than in 2012.

Facebook foresaw the importance of mobile first and first acquired Instagram and then Whatsapp, but many brands still haven't found a way to deliver effective information through these social apps. If brands want to influence the youth group, this is something they have to change.

Mobile social applications emerge as a new marketing platform

These social platforms are playing an increasingly important role in teens’ brand discovery. When they need to find brand information, more than 20% of teens turn to apps and social networks. It’s clear that young users consume less traditional media than other groups.

Using social apps in marketing campaigns can help brands better target younger groups and reach them by providing entertaining and rewarding content. Many brands have already started experimenting with this.

Second-screen behavior is becoming more common

Almost all users aged 16-19 are dual-screen users, and the main reasons for using their phones while watching TV are chatting with others (72%) and playing games (52%). This shows that this group is full of extremely social and playful natures.

Two-thirds of young people purchase paid content every month

64% of teenagers will purchase paid content, which is comparable to other groups. The content they are more willing to pay for includes music downloads (26%), mobile applications (24%), and multiplayer online games (22%).

The strong willingness of young people to pay indicates huge mobile business opportunities.

Android is the most widely used operating system

via: 199IT original analysis from