Instagram is tops for Teens, Police should take note!

A recent semi-annual study of 9,400 teenagers conducted by investment bank Piper Jaffray found that teens either don’t use Facebook or see other social networks as far more relevant to their digital lifestyles. The study found that 33% of respondents to the Taking Stock of Teens survey said that Instagram was the most important followed by Twitter and Snapchat with 20% and 19% respectively. The average age of the the teens surveyed was 

16. 

Because of this trend and since Law Enforcement has struggled to reach via social media to teens, this survey should provide Social Media Managers in field with some valuable information. Since streaming content consumption with teens is extremely high, as the study found in the study Netflix is used by 38% of teens, as opposed to 29% who prefer traditional cable television. YouTube and Hulu and other streaming services are accessed by 21%, and 4% and 8% of teens respectively and outstrip those who consume content from cable providers. 

This would identify areas in which Law Enforcement Social Media #LESM could potentially utilize to reach out to. As many local communities use their local cable access channel to reach their senior citizen population, #LESM could utilize streaming content through such sites as Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, Periscope, Twitter and Facebook. This would be a departure from standard practices of posting photos or info graphics that are currently being utilized. 

Teens are the perfect demographic for understanding and assessing the impact of the changing media landscape. Digital analysts will often point to Millennials as a good base for appreciating the advances that have been made but as more children become comfortable with technology available then it becomes important to look for the next generation of social media users. The problem with Facebook is that it has become part of the establishment.

Although for teenagers Facebook is seen to be the social media site that their parents and other generations use. Facebook still has a high penetration rate among teens. 71% of teens who were recently interviewed by Pew Research said that Facebook was just one of a number of social media tools that they accessed.

Instagram—which was bought by Facebook in 2012—and Snapchat have taken Facebook’s uncool factor and turned it to their advantage. Snapchat is cool because it sends pictures and updates that appear and vanish. Instagram has thousands of celebrities and “role models” posting constant updates on their must-have lifestyles, many of which are widely publicized in teen-friendly media.

Social Media Managers should consider working with their local High School Media organizations to craft messages, media and content that may be utilized across all of their agencies platforms. Putting the "cool" factor into #LESM is part of the bridging tool that those agencies that are experienced on their own Social Media platforms, will help to increase their likes and followers. In particular, to the Millennials  that rely so heavily on Social Media to get news, interact with friends and navigate through life.