When I was in high school, I vividly remember sitting through eight class periods with my whopping 22 classmates, listening to them talk about everything they were seeing on their phones. 

For some it was Instagram, for others it was Snapchat, for very few of them it was text messages they were receiving, but for most of my classmates, it was, “Look at what I found on Facebook Marketplace.” While I had heard about the marketplace and knew how it worked, I wasn’t continuously scrolling looking for the best deals like some of my classmates, who were always looking for deals on tractors, old beat-up cars and more. Even when I did scroll through Marketplace, I mostly just looked for books.  

Although most college students might not have much money, the New York Times says that “for 20-somethings who don’t have a lot of disposable income, marketplace is a place to get deals on items they wouldn’t normally be able to find.”  

While this younger generation has been known to spend more time on social sites like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, the popularity of Facebook is rising primarily because of the Marketplace.  

According to the New York Times, Facebook Marketplace launched in 2016, and currently hosts over one billion monthly active users. Facebook is the second most popular online site for secondhand goods, falling right behind eBay. 

 Students have stated they would much rather use Facebook marketplace than Craigslist, a similar site that was more popular with the previous generation. Facebook marketplace fits our generation more, but why?  

Personally, I never get on Facebook. And the main reason I ever login is to see what embarrassing photos my mother is sharing of my brothers and I with her friends. Other than checking up with my extended family, I have no other reason or desire to scroll through Facebook, so it boggles my mind why many young people can easily mindlessly scroll through the marketplace looking for deals.  

If Facebook isn’t as popular as the other social media sites, how are there so many good “steals” available out there? Do more people use Facebook than we imagine? Facebook has been facing a slow decline as most young people focus on other socials, but because of the marketplace’s popularity, I anticipate Facebook’s popularity to remain steady.