Is the tide turning for Twitter and Facebook? One in four young people is 'bored' with social media



Fatigue: One in four young people is 'bored' with social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, according to research

One in four young people is 'bored' with social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, according to researchers.

Some 24 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds admit to using social media increasingly less than when they first signed up, while 31 per cent said the fun of social media is wearing off.



But a survey by technology research firm Gartner also found that 37 per cent of respondents claim to be using social networks more.

Brian Blau, research director at Gartner, said: 'The trend shows some social media fatigue among early adopters, and the fact that 31 per cent of younger consumers indicated that they were getting bored with their social network is a situation that social media providers should monitor, as they will need to innovate and diversify to keep consumer attention.'



Gartner surveyed 6,295 people, between the ages of 13 and 74, in 11 developed and developing countries in December 2010 and January 2011.

Consumers were asked about their use of and opinions about social media sites with the aim of examining usage trends and how enthusiastic users were about social media in general.

Given that 24 per cent of respondents said they were using their main social site 'a little less or 'a lot less' than when they first started using it, they were asked what negative factors might be influencing their decision.



Thirty-three per cent said they were concerned about online privacy.

Furthermore, attitudes to privacy were also age-related, with teenagers citing privacy concerns significantly less often than older respondents - 22 per cent of teenagers agreed or strongly agreed that privacy concerns were decreasing their enthusiasm, against an average of 33 per cent.



Lead researcher Charlotte Patrick said: 'Teenagers and those in their twenties were significantly more likely to say that they had increased their usage.



'The level of consumer concern around privacy will require ongoing vigilance for brands concerning customer opt-in and education.



'Lessons should be learned from the likes of Facebook as they test the boundaries of consumer tolerance in search of more revenue.'



From a geographical point of view, some of the more mature social media markets - Britain Japan, and the U.S. - corresponded to the global average trend, with roughly 40 per cent of respondents using the site more than when they first started, 40 per cent using it the same amount, and 20 per cent using it less.



Markets where enthusiasm was higher included South Korea and Italy, where nearly 50 per cent of respondents said they used their social media sites more.

