Facebook is in the midst of a public relations campaign to remind people that it's not just for "old people." With TikTok facing increased scrutiny amid geopolitical tensions, Facebook may be able to position itself as a domestic alternative. However, there's one problem: younger adults have already moved on.

Devin Walsh, a 24-year-old public relations professional in Manhattan, says she can't even remember the last time she logged into Facebook. Instead, she checks Instagram several times a day, and spends about an hour on TikTok each day discovering things she didn't know she was interested in. For Walsh, Facebook is a thing of the past.

While Facebook still boasts 2.9 billion monthly active users, the social media giant has struggled to retain younger generations who find the platform outdated and uncool. This is a stark contrast to Instagram and TikTok, which continue to dominate among young adults and teens.

In fact, a recent survey found that TikTok is now the most popular social media platform among American teens, with Instagram in second place and Snapchat in third. With this trend in mind, it remains to be seen whether Facebook can attract and retain younger users in the long term.

Despite Facebook's massive user base of 3 billion monthly and 2 billion daily active users, the social media giant is facing an unusual challenge to maintain its relevancy and secure its future.

As younger generations continue to overlook the platform, Facebook risks becoming obsolete, like email. This is a significant concern for parent company Meta, as Facebook remains the primary source of revenue.

However, it wasn't always like this, as Facebook was once a cultural touchstone and a significant part of daily conversations and late-night TV for nearly a decade. At the same time, rival MySpace quickly became outdated and eventually sold to News Corp in 2005.

Moira Gaynor, a 28-year-old, described the early days of social media platforms as a time when users had to learn some coding in order to customize their MySpace profiles, making the experience stressful.

In contrast, Facebook provided a more streamlined and user-friendly platform, which attracted users who were tired of struggling with MySpace. This may have contributed to Facebook's success, as it offered a beautiful and integrated space for engagement that was previously unavailable.

Mark Zuckerberg, positioning himself as a visionary, refused to sell Facebook and led the company through the mobile revolution, even as some rivals emerged and eventually petered out.

Despite facing scandals over user privacy and a failure to address hate speech and misinformation adequately, Facebook continued to soar, reaching a billion daily users in 2015.

Although the platform's younger users have been dwindling, Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with Insider Intelligence, believes Facebook will remain a powerful platform for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, AOL's user base has aged, and having an aol.com email address has become a punchline in jokes about technologically illiterate people of a certain age.

Tom Alison, the head of Facebook (with Mark Zuckerberg now holding the title of Meta CEO), expressed optimism about the platform's ability to attract young adults in an interview.

Alison explained that Facebook has been focusing on a new era of "social discovery," driven by the needs and desires of the next generation of social media users.

Facebook's entire product line has evolved and adapted to meet these changing needs, with artificial intelligence playing a central role in the plan.

Like TikTok, Facebook aims to use AI and algorithms to show users content they didn't even know they wanted to see. The company hopes to win back the attention of young adults through its TikTok-like Reels feature, as well as private messaging.

Despite Facebook's declining popularity among young adults, Tom Alison, the head of Facebook, remains optimistic about the platform's future.

He has stated that Facebook is now focused on adapting to the needs of young adults, with a particular emphasis on "social discovery".

This involves using artificial intelligence and algorithms to show users content that they may not have otherwise discovered, similar to how TikTok operates. In addition, Facebook is hoping to encourage more sharing and discussion of content through the integration of messaging features.

While Facebook has not disclosed its user demographics, outside researchers have noted a decline in young adult and teenage users.

However, Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with Insider Intelligence, believes that young people often shape the future of communication and notes that Facebook is still a powerful platform around the world.

Williamson estimates that by 2026, about 28% of Facebook's U.S. users will be between 18 and 34 years old, compared to nearly 46% for TikTok and 42% for Instagram. The decline in popularity among young adults, some users still find value in Facebook, with features such as Marketplace being particularly useful.