According to a new report by eMarketer, Snapchat is set to overtake Facebook as the go-to social media platform for teenagers and people in their twenties.

By the end of 2018, Snapchat will become the most popular social media platform in the UK for 18-24-year-olds, with the company expected to increase its numbers in this demographic by 350,000 – taking it to just under five million users.

These figures suggest younger generations are increasingly turning to alternative social media platforms and marks Facebook’s second year of user decline among younger generations.

‘Facebook Nevers’

According to the report, a new generation of social media users is emerging, dubbed the ‘Facebook nevers’. This generation has never used Mark Zuckerberg’s social media behemoth and favour newer, more interactive platforms.

Bill Fisher, senior analyst at eMarketer, told The Guardian it is this generation that is damaging Facebook’s user growth.

“Many younger social network users are forgoing Facebook altogether in favour of more appealing, mobile-first alternatives, such as Snapchat,” he said. “These so-called Facebook-nevers are eating into Facebook’s user growth significantly.”

Last year, Snapchat also surpassed Facebook in the 12- to 17-year-old demographic.

A Fickle Industry

Despite Snapchat’s continued success, the platform has experienced problems in 2018. Earlier this year, Kylie Jenner famously asked her followers “does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?” – this action wiped a staggering $1.3 billion off the company’s value.

In June, the company also reported that its active daily user numbers decreased from 191 million to 188 million, a decline of nearly 1.5%. This followed the app’s controversial redesign, which led to an international petition being launched to revert the app to its previous interface.

Facebook has experienced similar issues this year, with $120 billion being wiped in a single day after it announced a decline in European users – the largest ever one-day drop in a company’s market value.

eMarketer’s senior forecasting analyst, Christopher Bendtsen, said that Instagram may not be enough to stem the tide of change, however.

“Stories is a growth driver for both platforms,” he commented. “Yet it’s not helping Facebook retain younger users. Teens continue to abandon or never even sign up for Facebook, and Instagram’s gains don’t completely make up for Facebook’s losses in this age group.”