Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) announced on Friday that its flagship app, Facebook, is experiencing its highest engagement from young adults in three years. This development marks a significant shift as the platform attempts to shed its image as a space primarily for older users.
For the first time, Meta disclosed that over 40 million U.S. and Canadian adults aged 18 to 29 are daily users of Facebook. This milestone comes as the social media network, founded by Mark Zuckerberg—who recently turned 40—celebrates its 20th anniversary.
The surge in young adult users underscores Meta’s successful efforts to win back this demographic from TikTok, the popular short video app owned by China’s ByteDance. A company spokesperson highlighted that Facebook has seen “five quarters of healthy app usage growth” among young adults.
Facebook, which originated in a Harvard University dorm room in 2004, rapidly expanded across U.S. college campuses and became the leading mass communication platform for a generation. It reached 50 million users within its first three years and now boasts 3.2 billion users worldwide.
Despite its global success, Facebook’s appeal to young users—key drivers of consumer trends and vital to advertisers—waned over time. According to a Pew Research Center survey last year, only about a third of U.S. teens reported using Facebook, a notable decline from surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015.
In contrast, the percentage of all U.S. adults using Facebook has remained relatively stable at around 68% since 2016, according to Pew.
Featured Image :Unsplash © Dima Solomin
