Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 Photo by Peter and Joyce Grace. In their third quarter report this past October, Facebook admitted that they had seen a decline in daily teenage users in the U.S. This admission confirmed a recent Piper Jaffray report that showed how Twitter had surpassed Facebook as the most important social network among teens. So what happened? If you ask teens why they’re leaving Facebook, you’ll likely be greeted by a variety of responses, everything from “I’ve been using it for so long that it’s boring,” to “People I don’t like chat me all the time.” Another response we’ve all heard is “My Mom is on Facebook.” Teens want privacy, and having your mom scoping out your wall isn’t appealing for many adults, let alone teens. It’s this desire for privacy that has helped SnapChat rise in popularity. That said, I tend to reject the “mom” argument for leaving Facebook. In fact, I’d argue that if all people used Facebook the ways our moms did, teens and adults would enjoy the social network more than ever. To prove my point, here are 3 ways your mom is better than you at Facebook: 1. Her Friends Are Actual Friends HootSuite social media coordinator Hannah Clark (right) with her mother and sister in a definite mom profile photo. In the last few years, Facebook has become a popularity contest for many people. Users strived to have the most friends among their peers, and in doing so their Home Feeds often became a dumping ground for information that they didn’t care. It turns out that most of us don’t care that the guy you met at your friend’s girlfriend’s party two summers ago dressed as Miley Cyrus for Halloween. With so much useless info clogging up your feed, it’s no surprise that many people are leaving Facebook behind in favour of the very personal experience offered by Snapchat and other networks. Enter mom. While we all know many social-savvy moms who play the friend game as well, most moms that I’m connected to have friend lists of under 100 people. Basically, many moms have approached Facebook as a tool to connect with their ACTUAL friends, not their casual acquaintances. Perhaps this stems from a healthy reluctance to share personal information and experiences with strangers? Whatever the reasoning, many moms look through their home feeds and actually see things that matter to them. They see photos and posts from real friends, and this comfort actually makes them more prone to engagement (commenting, sharing and the like). If your Facebook feed was completely filled with close friends, wouldn’t you use it more? 2. She is a Serial Commenter Me and my mom a few years ago taking our first selfie together. No duckface. Hi mom! Of the 550 or so friends I have on Facebook, I regularly interact with — through likes or comments — maybe 25 to 30 of them. Maybe. This relates back to the fact that so many of these contacts aren’t real friends. But it also has to do with the fact that Facebook has lately become a barren wasteland for interaction. When Facebook introduced the Like button in 2009, they probably didn’t want it to replace comments. But that’s where my feed is today, and the same can be said about countless others. Everyday I see posts with 20+ Likes and not a single comment. While silent approval is great, humans need actual conversation and interaction. Enter mom. Moms comment on everything. My mom, my aunts, their friends… these people do not click the Like button and move on. They voice their appreciation of new photos, they encourage us as we take on new endeavours, if they laugh at a funny post then they let us know that they did. Whether or not you want your mom commenting on everything, most of us will readily admit that the best moments on Facebook occur in comment threads below posts. The engagement, the arguments, the teasing and the laughs that come out of comments are what makes this social network actually social, and enjoyable. While I’ve come to ignore the Likes, I’ll always take the time to read the comments. I just wish there were more of them. 3. She Likes to Humble Brag When you have grandkids this cute, you can bet you’ll be sharing lots of pics on Facebook. Lead Storyteller Jordan Behan’s parents and children. Bragging can get tiresome, fast. We all have the friend who posts about their car/vacation/awesome job (guilty) far too often. But strangely enough, Facebook is also filled with the most mundane day-to-day experiences that you have to wonder what people are thinking when they click “Post.” “Eungh, so tired!” might get a few Likes. But the Likes are likely exponentially smaller in number compared to the people who scroll right by, or facepalm at the mediocrity. Enter mom. The moms that I’m privileged to have as friends on Facebook are far more selective about what they share (except, maybe, when it comes to Farmville requests… but you can block those). It’s almost as if before they post something, they ask themselves “will anyone actually care?” Sure, their profiles are often littered with humble brags to the tune of “So proud of my daughter on her new job!” or what have you. But in general, moms don’t post about the mundane every day. They don’t talk about cleaning, or laundry or waking up early in the same way that younger adults and teens talk about studying, or cooking or waking up early. They use Facebook to share the relevant moments that differentiate their days, which is exactly the type of ‘spice’ that many of our Home Feeds are lacking. Obviously the above examples don’t apply to all moms. There are many mothers out there who are incredibly active on social media and who are facing the same Facebook trials and tribulations that are driving teens and others away. But the fact is that many moms have approached Facebook as a tool to really connect and keep in touch with good friends, and that purpose is reflected in how they act and interact on the social network day in and day out. If more of us approached Facebook in the same way, we might fall back in love with the tool that, for many of us, is responsible our love affair with social media. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on HootSuite Social Media Management Blog and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Kane Pepi Kane Pepi is an experienced financial and cryptocurrency writer with over 2,000+ published articles, guides, and market insights in the public domain. Expert niche subjects include asset valuation and analysis, portfolio management, and the prevention of financial crime. Kane is particularly skilled in explaining complex financial topics in a user-friendly … View full profile ›More by this author:VoIP Basics: Everything Beginners Should Know!Bitcoin Investment, Trading & Mining: The Ultimate Guide for BeginnersIs This a Better Way to Set Your 2020 Goals and Resolutions?