It is a redemption that says a lot about the concerns of Facebook. Monday, 16 October, california-based company announced the acquisition of TBH, a mobile application that is all the rage since back-to-school college and u.s. high school students. Objective : continue to reach out to teenagers, who are increasingly leaving the social network in favour of new platforms.
According to the firm eMarketer, the number of american users aged 12 to 17 years of age is expected to decline slightly this year, a first. “They migrate to Snapchat and Instagram [owned since 2012 by Facebook], which are based on visual content more relevant to the way in which they communicate,” emphasizes Oscar Orozco, of eMarketer. “Adolescents who remain on Facebook are less active,” continues the analyst. At the same time, we see the emergence of a new generation that does not even account. “
The disaffection of young
The concerns about the disaffection of younger people are not new. Used by parents and grandparents, Facebook would just become a little cheesy, especially when faced with the creative ways offered by Snapchat. At the end of 2013, the company had recognized a decrease of the activity of the adolescents. However, this has not hindered its forward march : in the second quarter, it exceeded the mark of two billion users per month. And made record profits, nearly $ 4 billion.
Launched at the beginning of August in a few american States, TBH – an acronym for “to be honest” (” to be honest “) – is an anonymous service that allows you to send compliments to their friends. It takes the form of simple questions, proposing answers four names drawn from the contacts. Examples : “Who has the most beautiful smile ? “, “Who is the funniest ?” or ” Who épouserais you ? “. This approach contrasts with the previous networks…
