Facebook ‘dead and buried’ for 16-18 year-olds in the UK: Study

"What does 2014 hold for your online life? If you’re young, it probably won’t involve Facebook that much," wrote Daniel Miller, University College London professor and lead anthropologist for the sweeping Global Social Media Impact Study.

The European Union funded ethnographic study, which is researching social media for 15 months in eight countries, claims Facebook is "dead and buried" for 16-18 year-olds in the UK.

The study found that teens are leaving Facebook for other social media tools and websites as older users, including their parents, join Facbook. The study also found that some teens are not concerned with function or if the data they provide is used commercially or for surveillance.

"Mostly they feel embarrassed even to be associated with it," Miller wrote. "Where once parents worried about their children joining Facebook, the children now say it is their family that insists they stay there to post about their lives.

"Parents have worked out how to use the site and see it as a way for the family to remain connected. In response, the young are moving on to cooler things," Miller added. "It is nothing new that young people care about style and status in relation to their peers, and Facebook is simply not cool anymore."

That's not the first news that Facebook is on its way down. While the death of Facebook is still, far, far away, news that WhatsApp has surpassed Facebook as a mobile messaging service, does raise concerns for the social media website.

In a recent study, a survey of almost 4,000 smartphone users in five countries concluded 35 percent of people use Facebook, while 44 percent use WhatsApp.