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Boomers grow Facebook ranks
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Have you noticed who's on Facebook these days? It's not just your younger children and their friends.
It's you, Baby Boomer, and your friends ... and in growing numbers.
In fact, according to online measurements, older people are the fastest growing segment of Facebook users. And my sense is that they aren't there to spy on their children; they are there to socialize and, increasingly, they are there to do some professional networking.
"Facebook gained more Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to its membership ranks, with working aged adults (26-59) seeing the biggest age demographic boost of any in North America," said an online article at itbusiness.ca.
The online posting noted that 26 to 34 year-old category increased by 26 percent on Facebook in the last three months, according to statistics at O'Reilly Media.
"More staggering, however, was the 35-44 category, which grew by 51 percent, and 45-54, which grew by 47 percent," said the post of the North American growth.
What's even more staggering, when you dig into the O'Reilly Media data, is the growth in the United States in the last 12 weeks:
45 to 54 year olds -- up by 70 percent;
55 to 59 year olds -- up by 73 percent;
60 to 65 year olds -- up by 53 percent.
Facebook started in 2004 ostensibly as an online yearbook of sorts where college students, first at Harvard then elsewhere, could check out who was who on campus. It had been seen more as a refuge for teens and college kids, but has seen its demographic profiles grow more mature.
Called in many circles "the graying of Facebook" the social networking site is in fact doing for Baby Boomers what other sites -- Eons, for example -- are trying to do: attract the eyeballs of those graying users.
Social networking has been the bedrock function of Facebook. Professional networking belonged to sites like LinkedIn. But there are signs that the division between socializing and networking are beginning to blur on Facebook. Afterall, for many people their social life and work life are one in the same. It makes sense that would carry into the online universe.
Surprisingly, according to O'Reilly Media, it found the slowest growth in the U.S. is among teens. Also, the women outnumber men on Facebook.
For more info:
OMG! Dad's on Facebook
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