Boomers & “Friending”: All Ages Becoming Facebook Fans
I have a Facebook account and I am thoroughly enjoying catching up with people from all over. My teenager even voluntarily friended me, however at 44, I suppose I’m still considered “old” in that world. But, that’s really OK because the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is between 35 and 54 , so I’m actually part of the “in” crowd for a change.
Younger folks may feel that we’ve ruined Facebook for them, but Lev Grossman has some pretty compelling reasons that Facebook is for Old Fogies:
1. Facebook is about finding people you’ve lost track of. And, son, we’ve lost track of more people than you’ve ever met. Remember who you went to prom with junior year? See, we don’t. We’ve gone through multiple schools, jobs and marriages. Each one of those came with a complete cast of characters, most of whom we have forgotten existed. But Facebook never forgets. (See the best social-networking applications.)
2. We’re no longer bitter about high school. You’re probably still hung up on any number of petty slights, but when that person who used to call us that thing we’re not going to mention here, because it really stuck, asks us to be friends on Facebook, we happily friend that person. Because we’re all grown up now. We’re bigger than that. Or some of us are, anyway. We’re in therapy, and it’s going really well. These are just broad generalizations.
As the article goes on to point out, it’s sometimes wonderful to revisit your past, and tech savvy boomers and seniors are able to do just that on sites like Facebook. Reminiscing can keep you feeling young. For instance, I guess I am older than the original target audience for Facebook, but I think it bothers the “youngsters” more than it bothers me. There’s room for everyone if you just mind your manners and I think Ivy Bean, a 102-year-old Facebook user, might agree with me.
FRIEND US! Join SeniorsforLiving.com’s Facebook Page today!
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March 9th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Good post! Facebook’s interface is so user friendly that it’s no wonder its popularity is growing among all age groups. My mom and her 60-something siblings love the easy interface of Facebook and how it allows them to stay in touch easier than email. They’re on it all the time. However, my neighbor’s teenage son keeps complaining that “All these moms are ruining Facebook.” I’m not surprised these teens aren’t moving back to spam-heavy MySpace, though. I see a great opportunity for another social networking site to move in and capture those disgruntled teens.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Great post! This is yet again, more proof that Boomers and Seniors are not only online, but they are the fastest growing demographic online. What we’ve noticed, and our research supports that Boomers & Seniors, while not as active or “visible” online, they usually follow suit in adopting new technologies as time goes on.
Kathy’s response hits on another factor that is important to note: usability. This is crucial for an older consumer/audience, and yet marketers and companies often fail to understand how important this is.
Another key factor in determining the success of sites amongst Boomers and Seniors is relevancy. Facebook, more and more is becoming relevant to this audience because it serves our basic human core need to connect and fulfill our Relationship Need (based on David Wolfe’s Core Needs). But why the interest in Facebook, rather than sites like EONS where the network is focused on an older, peer group?