So is Facebook for old people now or what?
AAAAAAHHHH! Here come the grown-ups!
You've probably heard it already: New numbers from iStrategyLabs indicate that in the apparent reversal of the plot of any '90s-era kiddie caper flick, grown-ups are taking over Facebook.
According to iStrategyLabs, from January to July of 2009, even though the population of Facebook members over the age of 55 grew 513.7 percent, the site now sees 16.5 percent fewer high-school users, and 21.7 percent fewer college users. Which, naturally, is cause for panic because when the cool kids leave it's all totally over. Or so the common wisdom says.
A BusinessWeek blog post has the right idea: Take a look at the methodology. iStrategyLabs did not actually survey Facebook members, it just looked at their affiliations. The downturn means that Facebook users are dropping their university and high-school affiliations, not that they're leaving the site per se. And that could mean one of a few things: as the BusinessWeek post points out, it coincides well with spring graduations from high schools and colleges, and some members undoubtedly drop those affiliations when they graduate.
Another theory that's been tossed around is that university and high-school affiliations can make it easy for administrators and teachers--not to mention parents--to keep tabs on kids and their shenanigans. Not joining networks can make a profile more incognito.
It's also important to note that these statistics come solely from Facebook's U.S. users, who now make up less than a third of its total membership.
And there's no related shrinkage shown in Facebook's age demographics that typically encompass high-school and college students--members under 17 are up 24.2 percent, and those aged 18-24 are up 4.8 percent. Just a smidge, but not a plummet by any means.
So this is a set of numbers to take with enough grains of salt to put around the rim of a margarita--but just think twice before you put the photo of you drinking that margarita on Facebook. Those sneaky adults could be watching.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
No kid wants to add their parents as "friends" and see what theyre up to. They will lose their (online) privacy and eventually it wont be on facebook they'll be communicating with their friends.
PS: Maybe you haven't noticed, but one day you'll be old, too.
"Enjoy yourself...it's later than you think!"
Peace, out.
Who knows, when you graduate high school, you might actually think of your parents as "friends."
So yeah, I tend to think the 20-somethings and younger are, if anything, going to want to keep their parents away from their social networking sites. We wouldn't hang out at the same bars our parents would (a physical social networking site) so why would we want to be on Facebook with them. Sometimes separate spaces can be healthy.
As a business strategy however, it's probably great for Facebook. Older people tend to have a greater disposable income, and having seen my mother on her computer, she's far more easily enticed by targeted advertising then I'll ever be at this point (having grown up online). Too bad there are no announced IPO plans...
Note that human beings, old and young alike, are social beings. We all want a way to stay connected to the ones we love, potentially meet new people, and hear different points of view. The best way for you to partition your communications with your similarly aged buddies is to not invite or accept an older relative as a friend on Facebook. Go to Settings>Privacy Settings>Profile and select "Only Friends" for who gets to see your posts. Then do the same for "News Feeds and Wall" and so forth, all under "Privacy Settings." Doing so specifies that you only want your confirmed friends to see what you post. Win-Win!
Personally, I like having my grandmother on FaceBook. If someone really wanted that kind of privacy, they could create friend lists that contained all the older folks, another for young friends, etc., and change what was visible to whom.
Everybody that joined up with Facebook back when it first started have graduated. There, mystery solved.
Get off my lawn you young punks!
Now it is:
Get off my Facebook profile you young punks!
Seriously Lawyers and other business people made a decision to promote themselves and their services via Facebook now. Facebook has calendar apps they can use and other tools that help them manage their business better and get more clients via Facebook.
Facebook used to be limited to just High Schools and Colleges, but now it is open to everyone. Not just young people need it. Facebook is big for business networking now. Facebook is ready to hit the billions once they sign up more advertisers and businesses to partner up with them.
When I wrote the research report I was much more interested in the 500%+ growth in the 55+ audience...but there's something more here about the interplay between these two audiences and how they're influencing each others behavior.
Thanks for including us in your post.
Peter Corbett, iStrategyLabs
http://www.twitter.com/corbett3000
There's enough almost info in this graph for people of all age groups, regardless of sex or municipal networking, to explore what makes Facebook different from other social networking sites.
Facebook is for my-my-my generation...! (Over 55?) or "...hope I die before I get old!" (under 30). I wonder why the UKN age bracket hasn't received the most interest after jumping 10,915.7% in 6 months!
I'm mildly interested in the follow-up Corbett mentions in September, with Fbook's departure from school, and network affiliations; betcha Facebook is fully invested their interest!
(I sent this to Caroline via email after reading (Peter Corbett) reply on BizWkdot Com.)
Lastly, I have a track record of providing lot and lots of info for 'general consumer inquiry' because a) I like to share b) it tends to engage people if it's interesting which c) drives buzz about iStrategyLabs. I encourage you to check out the other stuff at www.istrategylabs.com which is not 'paid content' but will be interesting none the less.
I'm glad you found this insightful enough to comment and spread the word.
-Peter
http://www.twitter.com/corbett3000
And y'know, I really don't care. If he wants his private space, that's fine with me. I'm sure there are things he's posting he doesn't want me to know about. But I'm not worried, he's a good kid, and he'll be a regretful old fart soon enough...
no one i know of asks " whats your facebook" , they ask "do you have a myspace"
The entire concept of "family" is lost forever in this country.
You'll never grow older.
YOU invented the internet and all good that has come from it.
YOU'RE the only ones that are interesting and matter.
You seriously make me ill. I'm so sick of kids like that who shun folks over 30.
I got news for you, I and most folks my age couldn't care less about you or what you're doing.
Take that to the bank.
Oh, I forgot, you likely live in the HOME provided by your old parents and have no job, hence no bank account.
Sounds like U went and got old.
:(
sad
The media controls everyone (almost). You do what they say, even if you deny it.
"I" am on Facebook and I am an old fogey. I have no delusions that being on Facebook makes me cool. It does not. For those of you who care, I'm sorry.
- by trioxiphan July 8, 2009 6:51 AM PDT
- It's a good thing for Facebook. Older people have more money to spend and are therefore a much more favorable advertising demographic.
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