With Over a Billion Users, Itseems Like Everyone Is on Facebook. but We Don't Need to Tell

Tom: Hey everyone. It is Thursday, February 5th. I am Tom Hanson and Channel One News starts right now.

With over a billion users, it seems like everyone is on Facebook. But we don't need to tell you. Teens are using the site less and less. In fact, a new survey found a large number of young people ages 13 through 17 are dropping Facebook all together. And Scott Evans has more.

Scott: Eloise Lobenthal is a high school senior and she is so over Facebook, she deactivated her profile.

Eloise Lobenthal: Most of my friends were deleting it.

Scott: The annual internet survey by Magid Associates found Facebook use among teens dropped 6 percent last year.

Jeff Segal: By far the largest decrease we saw of any group using Facebook currently.

Scott: Social media experts say the fact that moms and dads and grandparents are now on Facebook makes teens less willing to share thoughts and photos on the site.

Another reason teens are opting out of Facebook, too many advertisements.

Almost half the world that has internet access already has Facebook. But experts say the platform doesn’t have much room to grow if young people stop joining up.

Eloise's younger sister Adelaide is just 12 and already on social media. But she doesn't think she will ever get on Facebook.

Adelaide: I really don't think so.

Scott: Facebook’s drop in popularity among teens is helping other social networking sites like Twitter and Snapchat gain ground. And the photo based site Instagram saw a 25 percent jump in 13 to 17-year-olds last year.

Adelaide: People say, if you didn't Instagram it, it didn't happen.

Scott: But for older teens and adults, Facebook is still a part of life.

Jeff: Facebook is more a utility now, like your electric bill. It’s something you have to have.

Scott: That’s why after an eight month break, Eloise is back on what is still the largest social media site in the world, but in a limited way.

Eloise: It's the easiest way to communicate with my classmates when we get

1 | P a g e homework. We have a grade-wide Facebook page, which is also really super helpful.

Scott: There is a silver lining for Facebook. The social media giant also owns Instagram.

Scott Evans, Channel One News.

Tom: But some teens say that hanging out on social media is not their favorite way to communicate according to one survey. To find out what is, head on over to Channelone.com.

Alright, coming up, President Obama meets with young “Dreamers” at the White House. We will explain.

Ok, let's see what else is making news with the latest on the threats from the terror group ISIS. The country of Jordan executed two terrorist prisoners it was holding after the terror group killed a Jordanian pilot.

The execution of two al-Qaida prisoners was revenge against ISIS, who released a video this week showing the murder of a 26-year-old Jordanian pilot.

ISIS and Jordan had been negotiating a prisoner swap deal. ISIS would release the pilot and Jordan would release one of the al-Qaeda prisoners.

But ISIS never showed proof the pilot was still alive, and now Jordan believes he was actually murdered a month ago.

Pres. Obama: It's just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization.

Tom: Many believe ISIS intentionally released the video of the pilot's death at the same time that Jordan’s King Abdullah was visiting Washington DC, meeting with President Obama. Jordan has supported the U.S. fight against ISIS in Iraq, and Syria and experts say the terror group is sending a message.

Pamela Falk: The message is for recruitment, for countries that are involved in the coalition to get out.

Tom: As King Abdullah expressed sorrow and outrage over the pilot's murder, the two leaders vowed not to let up in the fight against terror.

Next up, President Obama took on the issue of immigration yesterday, meeting with a group of so-called “Dreamers,” young immigrants who moved to the U.S. illegally when they were children.

Steven Arteaga: I've been living here all my life. And as I grew up, I would see my mom struggle to put on the table, pay the rent, stuff like that. And ever since I could

2 | P a g e remember, I’ve been wanting to help.

Tom: Even though they are not citizens, the “Dreamers” are currently protected from deportation under an executive order President Obama issued in 2012.

President Obama met with several young “Dreamers” yesterday to highlight the debate about immigration. Republicans are trying to pass a bill that would undo the president’s actions on immigration, which would mean 6 million immigrants could be subject to deportation.

But the president said yesterday, he would veto it.

Last up, at least 25 people were killed in a plane crash yesterday, crashing into a bridge in Taiwan's capital city, Taipei.

A car's dashboard camera captured the moment the plane came careening sideways out of the sky toward traffic; the plane's wing clipping a taxi before crashing into the river below. The taxi driver survived.

Rescue workers in small boats pulled survivors from the wreckage. Fifty-three passengers and five crew had been on board TransAsia Airways flight 235.

It took off from Taipei’s airport just before 11am local time for what was supposed to be an hour long flight to the Kinmen Islands near mainland China. But it sent out a "distress" signal just two minutes into the flight.

This is the second deadly crash from TransAsia Airways in less than seven months.

That's it for headlines; coming up after the break, a story of forgiveness and justice half a century later.

Now, it is Black History Month, a time to honor those who made an impact on African American history.

Arielle: Yeah Tom, and the Friendship 9 did just that. In the 1960s, a time when I wouldn’t be able to sit next to you at lunch, a group of nine college students went to jail for doing just that. And now, 50 years later, a judge is sitting the record straight.

Arielle: After 54 years, finally justice.

A South Carolina judge threw out the convictions of the civil rights protestors known as the Friendship 9.

Judge Mark Hayes: We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history.

3 | P a g e Clarence Graham: It’s gratifying, so I’m pleased.

Arielle: Clarence Graham and his friends were just teenagers back in 1961 when they decided to stand up for a cause. They were students at Rock Hills Friendship College.

Clarence: We just got tired of being second class citizens.

Arielle: On a cold January day, they walked up to the white's only lunch counter at Mcrory's and were immediately arrested for trespassing.

Clarence: I didn't even get to sit down. As soon as I started to sit, I was snatched up, thrown on the floor right there, and dragged out of this door, out the back to the jail house.

Arielle: The sit-in strategy first started at a North Carolina Woolworth counter in 1960. Most times, activists ended up in jail and civil rights groups were running out of bail money. So the Friendship 9 came up with a different idea. "Jail no Bail."

Clarence: It meant that we were going to purposefully allow ourselves to be arrested and not pay the fine. We were the first students to go to jail, be arrested, and stay in jail.

Arielle: It may have been a hard 30 days in prison, but the Friendship 9 also had to carry that conviction for over 50 years.

David: You always had it back there in the memory. And any time you would fill out an application you always had to tell them, and you wonder whether it’s going to affect whether you got a position or not.

Kevin: I’m giving them back what they are entitled to, which their dignity and their ability to say “I broke no laws.”

Arielle: Rock Hills solicitor Kevin Bracket presented their case in court, arguing that their conviction would never stand today because it was based solely on the color of their skin.

When they returned to the courtroom 54 years later, they learned that their protests would remain on file as a part of history. But they also received something else, an apology on behalf of the state.

Prosecutor: Allow me to take this opportunity to extend to each of you my heartfelt apologies for what happened to you in 1961. It was wrong.

Arielle: And from others in the community, Graham shared a meeting he had last week, with a local white woman.

Graham: She hugged me. We talked about a half hour. She said “I’m so sorry.”

4 | P a g e Arielle: And these men have a lesson for all of us.

Dub Massey: Perseverance. Don't allow anybody to stop you from doing the right thing.

Arielle: Adding to the emotion in the courtroom, the same lawyer that represented the Friendship 9 back in 1961 was by their side. And the judge that cleared their names is related to the judge who originally convicted them.

Tom: Talk about coming full circle. Thanks Arielle.

Alright guys, that’s all the time we have today. I am Tom Hanson.

Arielle: I am Arielle Hixson.

Tom: Have a great day, and we will see you tomorrow.

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