Teens are dropping smaller social networks in favor of Snapchat and Instagram

AP Photo/Mark LennihanEvan Spiegel's Snapchat is the most used social network by teens.Teens are consolidating their social network activity around four main social networks: Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and have stopped using smaller ones such as Kik or Tumblr, according to a new survey from investment bank PiperJaffray.

Snapchat, with 81% adoption, and Instagram, with 79%, are the leading platforms for teens between the age of 14 and 18. Facebook and Twitter are behind, with 51% and 56% respectively.

Samuel J. Kemp, analyst at PiperJaffray said in the report: "We believe this supports the notion that Snapchat and Instagram are continuing to be used differently by teens, who have carved out a separate use case for each."

While the four leading platforms have been hovering around the same numbers for the past two years a bigger difference can be seen with more niche social networks like Kik or Tumblr.

Between Spring 2016 and Spring 2017, Kik saw a drop of 14% in usage down to 13% usage. Tumblr dropped to the same level.

PiperJaffrayPiperJaffray

The least and most used social networks by teens.

The data from this survey contradicts the popular thought that Facebook and Twitter have been losing ground among teens in favor of Snapchat and Instagram. Instead teens are focusing on the four main social networks, but have a different use case for each.

In an interview with Recode in September 2016 Kik CEO Ted Livingston said his company had seen a slowdown in growth, which he attributed to the "app slowdown." Yik Yak is another app that saw a significant dip in popularity that put the app at risk of failure.

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