The Aging Social Networking User
August 22, 2007 by Kevin
Filed under Social Media
I know that at various times I have talked about the demographics of social networking users.
When I talk about social networking to people that aren’t very familiar with it (which is pretty much daily in a professional setting) the number one thing I hear is that it is for teenagers. However studies and reports show that these sites are trending towards older users, a recent news article stated that an estimated 20 million users over the age of 50 could be hitting social networking sites by the end of the year.
In the same article the users that they talked to weren’t just part of one site. Most people were involved in multiple social networking websites including: facebook, linkedin, eons, cafemom, and MySpace.
Excuse me while I go track down my grandmother so I can leave a glitter comment on her page.
Technorati Tags: social networking, demographics
Yeah this is a good point, Kevin. I am 38, and a lot of the people I interact with on these services (Facebook, LinkedIn, Pownce, blog networks, etc.) are near my age on either side. I guess this serves as a reminder to always check your assumptions and sterotypes against available facts.
LOL regarding the glitter comment. To be honest I’m not surprised the demographic is ‘growing up’
Thanks for the comments, yeah it is amazing the stereotypes that people hold about these sites and the users.