I don't think this a particularly unique or noteworthy perspective, and nor does it provide any real insight into the youth demographic.<p>As a sidenote, I've noticed that teenagers love to declare their age when posting on the internet, as if their youth entitles them to an audience.<p>Now get off my lawn.
That last trend of people using Facebook less and Instagram more bolsters the justification for Instagram's large purchase. I wouldn't be surprised if Zuck can see that trend from their internal data, and the community at HN hasn't noticed it yet because it's happening with the younger generation first.
Interesting but this screams white upper class. If I went back to my middle or high school, (Madison WI, which is hardly as diverse as other areas) I don't think it would be the case that every 8th grader has an iPhone or iPod touch.
It's a testament to the speed at which technology moves that, despite being not very much older than the author (he's 16, I'm 23), I feel separated by a significant age gap. I'm still often shocked that Youtube can afford all the bandwidth required for streaming video; he barely remembers the world where unlimited streaming video <i>wasn't</i> the norm.
Reading this brought a smile to my face. It took me back to the days of AIM chats, the silly screennames, Casio messagers that we could program to work as remotes for the school TVs to baffle teachers, et al...<p>I never really considered how technology was evolving during that time of my life, but it definitely was, and I'm getting nostalgic just thinking about it :)
I'm twenty - four years older than the author. Pretty crazy to compare our experiences...<p>5th grade (1/2): Everyone hangs out on Neopets, lots of people are excited about the GameCube. First time I ever heard of Google.<p>6th grade (2/3): Neopets is still popular (but popularity is starting to wane), people hang out on AIM, some start getting cell phones. lots of students carry their CD players to school and wear their headphones whenever they can.<p>7th grade (3/4): iPod Mini is the "hot device", more people have cell phones. everyone hangs out in AIM chat rooms.<p>8th grade (4/5): iPod Mini still in, most people now have cell phones. nerdy friends start playing World of Warcraft (some never stop, stealing to support the habit). Not many people know / care what MySpace is. A few people have gmail accounts.<p>9th grade (5/6): Everyone has MySpace. Most people are now using gmail. A few friends have blogs / Facebook. People torrent everything.<p>10th grade (6/7): MySpace is the hub of all social activity. Some start using Facebook once in a while. A few people create Twitter accounts. Only one or two rich kids have iPhones - they are teased mercilessly.
As a fellow 16 Year old I too have noticed a trend, especially in the popular iOS games. Last spring it was Temple Run then Draw Something. The game going through the school now is Bike Race. If you guys have any questions about what trends kids at my school are following feel free to ask but it's pretty much on par with the original article.
They're leaving Facebook because their parents (and parent's friends) are now on Facebook and are friending them. Sure, there's privacy settings and groups, but what teenager wants to hang out at the same place as their mom?
As someone who only recently graduated high school, many of the trends are ones I saw as well, but many I also did not see.<p>At my school Google Talk ("gtalk") was as popular as Facebook chat. It is still used, but I personally prefer FB chat (for convenience). Not many people from my high school have a Twitter account, and many still don't. Even fewer use it regularly. I do see more and more friends using it though. I only use it because I'm involved in the tech scene. Quite a few people have Instagram accounts (about a third of my FB friends), and use it frequently. The only shift I see going on is that more of my friends are posting photos on Instagram than they used to on FB. But everything else gets posted on FB.<p>Maybe some of this truly is due to a difference in generations (only a couple of years).
I have been on Twitter since the beginning but I have no idea why people use it. The length restriction is totally lame, UX is rough, and it seems infested with wannabe's (followers), selfish people that live to share their lives with hashtags and pics of innane shit, Ashton, self-proclaimed "social media experts"), and hookers. Facebook has old people, and I'm one of 'em.
I've noticed that in the past few years so many different services built around sharing, liking, and commenting on images from another person have evolved (and maintained momentum). They don't seem to be doing anything special are technologically exciting, but they just keep proliferating.
Let's see, YouTube, iPhone, Palm, iPod, Google Talk, gmail, Facebook, iOS, Twitter, Temple Run, FarmVille, Instagram.<p>What's next? Google+, The Elder Scrolls, Google Glass, Telepathic Siri. And or course Windows 8.1. It's the cat's meow.