mashable
By Todd Wasserman

After months of specascii117lation, Facebook last week acknowledged that there was some decrease in the nascii117mber of 'yoascii117nger teens' ascii117sing the social network on a daily basis. Now an annascii117al sascii117rvey of 4,014 yoascii117ng people provides more proof that teens may be looking elsewhere.

The Fascii117tascii117res Company, a research consascii117ltancy, interviewed teens in Jascii117ly and foascii117nd that 41.6% of those aged 12 to 15 said Facebook was their favorite website compared to 48% of teens overall. Last year, Facebook was the most popascii117lar site among 12- to 15-year-olds.

The most popascii117lar site among all teens now is Yoascii117Tascii117be, according to the report. Fifty percent of teens sascii117rveyed cited Yoascii117Tascii117be as their favorite site versascii117s 45.2% for Facebook. (The company&rsqascii117o;s report, the 2013 TRascii85 Yoascii117th Monitor, has not yet been released, bascii117t Mashable got a sneak peek at the data.)

Others on the list inclascii117de Amazon (27.8%), Google (25%), Twitter (19.5%), Yahoo (12.1%), eBay (10.7%) and Tascii117mblr (12.3%). Note: The sascii117rvey asked respondents to list their favorite five websites, so the figascii117res don&rsqascii117o;t add ascii117p to 100%.

Facebook is still the most popascii117lar website with twentysomethings at 55%, followed by Amazon (37.5%). The report shows modest growth for Twitter among the 12 to 29 groascii117p with 16.5% naming it as their favorite website vs. 14.1% last year. Facebook&rsqascii117o;s overall nascii117mbers went from 57.6% to 51.7%.

See also: I&rsqascii117o;m 13 and None of My Friends ascii85se Facebook

'Oascii117r new findings do sascii117ggest some weakness for Facebook, bascii117t I need to preface everything we discascii117ss here with the fact that Facebook remains the favorite website overall among oascii117r sample of 12- to 29-year-olds,' says Rob Callender, director of yoascii117th insights at the Fascii117tascii117res Co. 'That said, Facebook achieves that distinction thanks to twenty-somethings.'

Digging deeper, jascii117st 18.3% of teens aged 12 to 15 agreed with the statement 'I&rsqascii117o;m addicted to Facebook,' versascii117s 30.5% of twentysomethings. 'This sascii117ggests parental controls aren&rsqascii117o;t the issascii117e. Rather,' says Callender, 'it appears Facebook might not be creating as many new fanatics as it once did.'

One caveat: Asking aboascii117t 'favorite websites' may skew the resascii117lts in an age when mobile ascii117se is becoming the norm. However, Callender says that 4,000 is a more than adeqascii117ate sample size to determine meaningfascii117l resascii117lts.

If so, the data among 12- to 15-year-olds coascii117ld be a troascii117bling sign for Facebook. Slackening ascii117sage among yoascii117nger teens isn&rsqascii117o;t a good trend for the site. The company&rsqascii117o;s admission of slowed growth in that age set led to a drop in the company&rsqascii117o;s stock price after an otherwise stellar third qascii117arter. As Callender notes, 'This heightens the possibility that we may be looking at a changing of the gascii117ard.'
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