A few years ago, pre-teens had to lie about their real age just to open an account at the very popular social networking site Facebook. After a couple of years, these same young people have reached 13 and are legally allowed to open an FB account, however, some of them find the portal now uncool.

As a result, a growing number of teens are unfriending the social networking site with more than 500 million members founded by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg.

In its yearly report, Facebook admits the loss of teen members to younger and cooler apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.

The site warned that if the teen-member hemorrhage continues, its multibillion-dollar business could be harmed.

Blake Ross, Facebook Director of Product, is himself leaving the company even if he is no longer a teenager. He based his decision on the reply on the story of a Forbes write who asked the opinion of his son's best friend if Facebook is still cool to hang around. The friend replied in the negative and added his outlook is shared by his friend.

However, Mr Ross eventually recalled his resignation letter which he posted on his profile page on Feb 22, and insisted he posted it accidentally and it was only a joke.

Laura Portwood-Stacer, a Web expert explained the change in the attitude of young people toward FB.

"I think it has less to do with kids consciously looking for the next big thing than Facebook just no longer being a space that serves them," Daily Mail quoted Ms Portwood-Stacer.

Other explanation behind the growing teen disinterest in FB is that is has become too complicated with frequent changes, too risky and the growing number of parents joining the site to track their kids' online behaviour.

Some teenagers cited the intrusion into their privacy by their FB friends who PM them for a chat the minute they log in to their accounts.

One interesting thing regarding FB members is that while teens are leaving in significant numbers, more seniors are signing in but because of a glitch an octogenarian woman in the U.S. was also forced to lie about her age. However, FB said it would fix the problem.

In case these seniors also become bored with FB, they can give the new sites a try. However, they should be forewarned that the app has gained some notoriety for being used by young people for sexting. Here's a tutorial on how to use Snapchat.

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