Facebook reached over 400 million users in early 2010 with the +55 demographic growing at an increasing pace
My Mom is on Facebook, and She May Be More Popular Than Me
Andrew Bates
Client Services Manager
This is no new phenomenon. You logon to Facebook one day to check your messages and to see your friends making awkward faces in candid photos. Then in your new connection invitations you see…, could it be? Its mom, and she wants to be your friend. Now whether you accept or not is up to you, but the invitation reminds me of the reach of social media and the lion’s share that Facebook has today.
I give some of the credit to MySpace for kicking off the free personalized social profile and gaining a great deal of attention early on. In 2006 MySpace was the most popular social network in the US, but the site’s reign was short-lived. According to comScore, Facebook surpassed MySpace as the most popular and visited social network in 2008 based on monthly average visitors. Now Facebook has more than 400 million users and has traffic and usage statistics that rival the mighty Google.
We can safely say that social networking may have started with the younger generation, but Facebook has gained acceptance with all age groups and has become a legitimate marketing platform for businesses, groups, and non-profits alike. What obviously has me baffled is the acceptance and growth outside of the 24-34 year old demographic. According to Peter Corbett of iStrategyLabs and a number of sources, in 2010 the +55 age group is growing in Facebook by over 900%.
So the trends are showing that we all may soon get that invitation to connect from our parents, aunts and uncles, and maybe even a grandparent here and there. I’m looking next to see the usage statistics for this +55 generation over the next 6 months to a year. If my mom’s profile is any indication, her group of friends are engaging on a daily basis and embracing “wall to wall” posts, the “Like” feature, and posting many images and video.
Next time someone asks you if this “Facebook thing” is going to last. Just tell them to ask my mom, your mom, his or her own mother… She is likely online right now, and she may just have more friends than you.
