Teens don’t think Facebook is cool anymore, turning to Twitter and Tumblr to avoid scrutiny from parents

For those of you without teens in your life, clueless as to how uncool Facebook has become, not to worry because a recent U.S. Pew Research Center study explains all.

You see, Facebook is not longer the king of all social media kings in the minds of adolescents. It's fallen a steep and steady decline in favour of Twitter and other social networks perceived to be devoid of trivial life details, "drama" from friends, and the watchful eyes of parents.

"The key is that there are fewer adults, fewer parents and just simply less complexity," study author Amanda Lenhart tells the Associated Press. "They still have their Facebook profiles, but they spend less time on them and move to places like Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr."

Also see: How Facebook can make you depressed

In the survey of 802 teens, Twitter use has doubled since 2011 with 24 per cent of teens using Twitter compared to only 16 per cent in 2011.

Seven in 10 teens say they are friends with their parents on Facebook.

“Facebook is often described by users as a socially constrained online environment,” study co-author Mary Madden tells the Toronto Star.

The stress of needing to manage their reputation on Facebook also contributes to their lack of enthusiasm. And part of managing their reputation can be seen by how frequently they mask information they don't want others to see.

Also see: Is Facebook making you gain weight?

For example, nearly 60 per cent of teen social media users say they deleted or edited something they published. While just over half deleted comments from others on their profile.

As well, most teens report having high levels of confidence in their ability to manage their privacy settings.

More than 60 per cent of the teens with Twitter accounts say their tweets are public, meaning other Twitter users can see what they write and publish. The oppose is true for Facebook, with 60 per cent of teen Facebook users keeping their profiles private.