Facebook just acquired tbh and its 5 million teen users
Facebook just scored a huge win its quest to win over teens.
The company has acquired tbh, the anonymous app that's been going viral with teens. The app, which is targeted toward middle school and high school students, is a network that allows users to swap compliments by participating in anonymous "quizzes."
It's proved to be a winning formula for tbh, which has been in the App Store's top ten for weeks, including two straight weeks as the number one app, according to data from Sensor Tower.
Facebook confirmed the acquisition saying, “tbh and Facebook share a common goal - of building community and enabling people to share in ways that bring us closer together."
The app, launched in September, racked up more than 2 million downloads in its first month in the App Store, according to data from App Annie. Since then, the app has reached 5 million users who have collectively exchanged more than a billion messages, according to tbh.
The app is centered around emoji-filled anonymous quizzes that ask users to pick which friend has "the best smile" or is the "world's best party planner." It keeps identities a secret but users can see the gender and grade level of the person who "chooses" them.
It sounds like Facebook plans to keep the app as a standalone service, rather than integrating it into the social network. "Going forward, your experience with tbh won’t change, but we'll continue to improve upon it and build features you love —but now with plenty more resources," tbh said in a blog post.
That's not surprising considering Facebook has historically struggled to appeal to younger teens. The company's own standalone apps built for teens, like Lifestage and Snapchat clone Slingshot, have failed.
Still, the acquisition is a huge win for Facebook, which has been struggling to win over younger teens.
The number of teenage users on Facebook is expected to drop in 2017, according to a recent report from eMarketer -- the first time the company has predicted a decline in Facebook users of any age. And a survey released by Piper Jaffray last week found that 47 percent of teens prefer Snapchat over other social networks.
But by scooping up tbh, and its 5 million+ teenage users, Facebook can now say it finally, finally, finally has a product that's actually loved by teens.
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Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
