Facebook's strategy: Get 20somethings on signed up. Give 20somethings an easy place to upload their photos. Mum & Dad now need accounts to see photos. Rinse repeat...
Michael A. Stelzner
· 5 months ago
These findings do not surprise me given the number of folks reconnecting with old college buddies.
This is promising for marketers.
Zacqary Adam Green
· 4 months ago
Very promising; the 50+ crowd hasn't gotten sick of spam yet.
nabblogger
· 5 months ago
Oh look my parents are on Facebook.
Gary
· 5 months ago
rofl facebook is for idiots
I give it 2 more years
Jacob Brown
· 5 months ago
I’ve been doing research myself on this topic to find out what Facebook is lacking and why so many users are beginning to lose interest.I’ve asked users what features for Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are missing that they would like to see implemented in either the current social networks or possibly a new social network? Many of the responses were pretty interesting: Is Facebook in need of a Facelift? http://bit.ly/CHuwB
Alec Boere
· 5 months ago
Good news for marketers
Chris Horton
· 5 months ago
Facebook has no music, you change your background, you really can't do much exept talk. It get's a little old. For those of us with cellphones why do we need Facebook? we can send something to our entire adressbook if they follow us on Twitter. So though i don't use it much i have a facebook, but there needs to be additions. I go to myspace start the music player and go to Facebook to make posts...@.@
Jacob Brown
· 5 months ago
What if there were a social network with music, personal blogging, private & group chatting, apparel & clothing, more ability to edit personal page, video & photo editing, etc. Would you be more apt to use it? Would this social network gain the population that Facebook is losing?
Peter Corbett
· 5 months ago
Thank you for featuring our research, Stan. Regarding the validity of the data, all I can say is that it comes directly from Facebook's Social Ads platform so any "incorrectness" would be a result of what they're actually serving to advertisers for ad targeting.
The full data set we have going back to October 2007 is here: http://bit.ly/fbookdata just select "download" and "xls"
wow, facebook is the new eons.com - they should just buy out eons, it makes sense..
Donielo
· 5 months ago
The writer of this story has some trouble with math: "Most of the users (20,3 million, or 28.2% overall) on the site belong to the 35 – 54 age group." 28.2% hardly counts as "most." It would be more accurate to say that the lion's share of Facebook users are split about evenly between three segments: 18-24, 25-34 and 35-54. The remaining 20% of users are split evenly between the 17-&-unders and the 55+ groups. Yes, the 35+ age group is the fastest growing demographic, but they do not come anywhere close to comprising the majority of Facebook users.
chaalz
· 5 months ago
Makes sense. We generally refer to the younger group as always jumping from trend to trend so no surprise there. Yesterday FB, today Twitter, tomorrow something new. I don't think the 35-54 year old group is as likely to do that so I think thats good for FB. They'll have a solid base as well as a constant flow of new very young people signing up as well as signing out. This isn't a problem in and of itself. They just need to capitalize on the new demographic mix of users.
Drew Thaler
· 5 months ago
First of all, 28.2% is not "most of the users". It's a plurality.
Second, age information on Facebook is volunteered, and it's only very *very* loosely accurate. People lie about their age on Facebook a lot, for a variety of reasons. General obstinance (you don't need to know my birthdate), getting around restrictions (I can't create an account if I'm 12, so I'll say I'm 112), privacy concerns to avoid stalking (instead of being a 17-year-old I'll be a 40-year-old), completely bizarre (I'm creating an account for my cat), etc. There's no good way to estimate how much that happens, and it'll put a lot of noise in the data.
Finally, because of the above, I would hesitate to put much credence in the 55+ number unless we had a further subdivision to see how many people were rather unlikely ages like 100+.
Brandon Mendelson
· 5 months ago
Stan,
Another option: College students are not going on Facebook because their parents, teachers, and employers are there. I've found this to be increasingly the case, with current students only using Facebook because of a social inertia (their friends are there).
Niubi
· 5 months ago
A very interesting change in statistics, especially for businesses using Facebook, since older people typically have more money to spend! For companies like DubLi.com, this is an important shift. They'll need to show these savvy people that the internet can really work for them, as well as being a playground.
Nanita
· 5 months ago
I'm in that 517% demographic. I signed on. But it's boring and of limited value to me. I don't like the fact that you have to hunt for features, since they are less than obvious. I can't STAND the assumptions about the ads someone in my age bracket will be interested in--wrinkle cream, cemetery plots, "senior" dating sites. Sheesh. I'm there for the moment, but gone soon.
It's also creepy that sites like Spokeo.com sleuth out your presence and activity on FB and other sites.
Rolando Garza
· 5 months ago
This just just means that your mom signed up for Facebook.
Krishna Santani
· 5 months ago
Its Shocker for me.. Facebook is always changing itself constantly by taking out different applications and its going to show you how volatile are the these emerging generation. You never know what they want?? I am worried about the kind of advertisements we are going to see in facebook after these revelation...!!
Cliff
· 5 months ago
Let's be real here. Yes, more adults post 55 are signing on, but why? To look at pictures, maybe, to connect with old friends, maybe, but why? How about most of those 55+ just lost 30-40% of their savings or 401Ks in the market this past year, so a) they have a lot more time on their hands as many are out of work and b) they are also on LinkedIn or Facebook to connect with old friends and colleagues "cause that's what those kids are doing these days" or more likely they are connecting to start their own businesses or connecting with friends in spare time, but ultimately they still need to work now for the next 10-15yrs cause they did lose a chunk of retirement. The younger population of this country is also probably thinking that a) yes, my parents are now on, so I'm on less b) employers look on Facebook and LinkedIn, so I might be on less and removing inappropriate comments and pictures, but c) the younger generation is finding more niche places to connect with people, because it is all about filtering at this point. I'd still be skeptical about the 55+ market actually being "marketed" too on Facebook. Not that the internet is scary still, but will take some type of app to make any brand integration truly comforting and trustworthy for an older generation to dive in.
So are these numbers only for Facebook in the US? Because the totals don't match the 200 million figure that Facebook released.
Annie Almeyda
· 5 months ago
Is this so bad? I am not represented in that graphic because I'm from Mexico, however I am 44 years old with a college degree so I feel that is great to know that all this sites (Facebook, Tweeter, etc) can be also places where we can go around. I was introduced to them because of my students for the first time but now I am addicted to them and I've had the opportunity to reconnect with friends, colleges buddies, add to important causes for me and follow to very interesting people all around the world. I'd like that the thing could go even better in this way.
liphos
· 5 months ago
Those numbers say next to nothing.
They’re based on non-verified data provided by complete strangers. If at all, the strong grow in the “unknowns” suggests people are more concerned about their privacy — what with all the consequences something posted on Facebook can have IRL.
As for the age statistics, the youngest people often mix up their age and birthday — I’ve seen this happen more and more on other social networks. This results in people claiming an age of 95 years when the profile pics show a 14 year old.
Mashable jumps to conclusions about marketing investments on unverified facts. Way to go Web 2.0 ;)
wonkette
· 5 months ago
I bet the young kids are leaving FB because they don't want to be on a site where their parents want to friend them and them see what these kids are up to. The quest is, where are these young people going? To which social media site?
Mark Fish
· 4 months ago
I believe Mr Scroeder primarily uses the statistic for the Age demographic sample of those over 55 years of age as the basis for his rather bold headline. He states, “the number of users older than 55 years has grown a tremendous 513.7%.” 513.7% is a tremendous growth rate, but is the percentage of growth the true way to examine this information? On 1/04/09 there were 954,680 users at 55+ in age, while on 7/4/09 there were 5,859,160 in the same bracket. That is a 513.7% leap in growth. But, if on 1/04/09 there had been 955 users and on 7/4/09 there had been 5,859 users that too would have been the same growth rate. Would that be tremendous?
All Comments
This is promising for marketers.
facebook is for idiots
I give it 2 more years
The full data set we have going back to October 2007 is here: http://bit.ly/fbookdata just select "download" and "xls"
-Peter
http://www.Twitter.com/corbett3000
"Users Over 55 Quitting Facebook: The Baby Boom Times Over?"
How do these two sets of figures reconcile?
by mobmani.blogpsot.com
Second, age information on Facebook is volunteered, and it's only very *very* loosely accurate. People lie about their age on Facebook a lot, for a variety of reasons. General obstinance (you don't need to know my birthdate), getting around restrictions (I can't create an account if I'm 12, so I'll say I'm 112), privacy concerns to avoid stalking (instead of being a 17-year-old I'll be a 40-year-old), completely bizarre (I'm creating an account for my cat), etc. There's no good way to estimate how much that happens, and it'll put a lot of noise in the data.
Finally, because of the above, I would hesitate to put much credence in the 55+ number unless we had a further subdivision to see how many people were rather unlikely ages like 100+.
Another option: College students are not going on Facebook because their parents, teachers, and employers are there. I've found this to be increasingly the case, with current students only using Facebook because of a social inertia (their friends are there).
It's also creepy that sites like Spokeo.com sleuth out your presence and activity on FB and other sites.
They’re based on non-verified data provided by complete strangers. If at all, the strong grow in the “unknowns” suggests people are more concerned about their privacy — what with all the consequences something posted on Facebook can have IRL.
As for the age statistics, the youngest people often mix up their age and birthday — I’ve seen this happen more and more on other social networks. This results in people claiming an age of 95 years when the profile pics show a 14 year old.
Mashable jumps to conclusions about marketing investments on unverified facts. Way to go Web 2.0 ;)
More here http://awe.sm/S7i
Some other interesting stats on facebook: http://blog.socialmaximizer.com/10-bizarre-fact...