Teenagers are increasingly sharing more personal information on social media sites and say Facebook has a large amount of adult users, pushing them to prefer sites like Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, according to a research by Pew Research Center (PRC).
In the poll, 94 percent of teens who are social media users have a profile on Facebook - flat from the previous year. Twenty-six percent of teen social media users were on Twitter, more than double the 12 percent in 2011.
"The key is that there are fewer adults, fewer parents and just simply less complexity," said Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Research Center, one of the study's authors. "They still have their Facebook profiles, but they spend less time on them and move to places like Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr."
While some teenagers interviewed by Pew claimed they "enjoyed using it", the majority complained of "an increasing adult presence, high-pressure or otherwise negative social interactions ('drama'), or feeling overwhelmed by others who share too much."
In other words, Facebook - as any adult with a profile knows - feels a lot like high school. "I think Facebook can be fun, but also it's drama central," one 14-year-old girl said. "On Facebook, people imply things and say things, even just by a 'like', that they wouldn't say in real life."
The study saidi teens were sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they did in the past, for the five different types of personal information measured in both 2006 and 2012, each was significantly more likely to be shared by teen social media users in the current survey.
The PRC is a think tank organization based in Washington, D. C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.
