Facebook is Not Just for Kids Anymore

By Angelique Rewers

Site sees 513% growth in 55+ user bracket
Number of college and high school users drops 20%

Using Facebook to reach your target audience? If so, be aware that the popular social media site’s demographics are changing rapidly and significantly.

An analysis of data from Facebook’s Social Ad platform conducted by iStrategyLabs reveals that the site’s users are getting much older in a short period of time. The study found:

* A staggering increase in the 55+ age group from 950,000 to 5.9 million in just the last six months
* A 70.8% increase in the number of total U.S. users over the last six months (71,901,400 total)
* That 54.6% of users are female
* That 16.5% fewer high schoolers and 21.7% fewer college students are using the site (iStrategyLabs reports this could be due in part to the fact that younger users are being alienated by their parents joining the service)
* That the majority of users (28.2%) fall into the 35 to 54 age group

Examined another way, between January and July 2009, the overall number of users…

* Ages 18 to 24 has grown only 4.8%
* Ages 25 to 34 has grown 60.8%
* Ages 35 to 54 has grown 190.2%
* Age 55 and older has grown 513.7%

What’s this mean for you?

First, the number of Facebook users overall continues to grow, making this popular social media site an increasingly important communications channel. Even if your organization is not on Facebook, you can guarantee that at least a fraction of your target audience is.

Second, if this data is correct — and it may not be as Facebook doesn’t guarantee the data it provides to advertisers is 100% accurate — then Facebook is not a young site anymore. With such significant changes happening at an increasingly rapid pace, it’s critical that you continue to monitor trends and adjust your advertising and communication strategy accordingly.

You can see a complete breakdown of iStrategyLabs’ data here.

Reprinted from The Corporate Communicator, a free e-zine dedicated to helping professionals communicate more effectively with employees, customers and the media. To get the latest industry news, research and best practices at your fingertips, register for a FREE subscription at www.thecorporatecommunicator.net.