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Women Over 55 Are Helping Facebook Takeoff

posted on February 3, 2009


Yep, you read that headline right. According to MediaPost, women over the age of 55 are the fastest-growing user group on Facebook over the last three months. This is significant considering how rapidly Facebook has been growing these last few months (600k users a day!).

The study also reports several other statistics that marketers should take note of:

  • Women make up 56.2% of Facebook users—outnumbering men in almost every age group
  • 25% of U.S. Facebook users are over the age of 35—considering that Facebook started as a college platform, this is very surprising.
  • 45% of U.S. users are over the age of 26—this isn’t as surprising as you take into account that this is now about the average age of early Facebook adopters.
  • Teenagers only account for 12% of Facebook users. This actually made my jaw drop. I would have thought teenagers would be the dominating age demographic on a social site like Facebook.

Are you surprised by these statistics? How will this affect your marketing strategy?


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  • http://www.adventuresinparenting.org katy

    very interesting. It’s no surprise there are more women than men.

    katy’s last blog post..Pistachios a surprisely healthy snack

  • http://www.swbnetwork.com/blog Allison Reynolds

    Not so surprising I think
    - Facebook has always been college age and up oriented
    - Women generally like the social aspect of social networking
    - Older women have not had a way of reaching out beyond their local boundaries and networks until Facebook
    - My mother loves Facebook because she can keep in touch with her children and grandchildren and see the latest pictures and videos

    Allison Reynolds’s last blog post..SWBN Podcast #006: Ed Dale, Business Beginnings and the Thirty Day Challenge

  • http://www.GoalRevolution.com/business_blog/ Bill Tamminga

    Good points, Allison. Those Boomers and soon to be Boomers have the money to be retired or semi-retired, so they have time on their hands. The geographic distance between families is often large. Plus, it feels cool to a lot of people to use technology and connect with other people, be it long lost friends or family members. Why not Facebook?

  • http://gearheadwiki.com Mark Wilson

    600k a day!! That’s crazy. It doesn’t surprise me though, that teen only account for 12%. I think that teen like the busier myspace style.

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  • http://www.free-xbox-360.co.uk Milo

    And who says social networking is for kids?!

  • http://www.goodies4free.net Neil

    My mum has just found Facebook. I get silly messages everyday when she just forwards everything her friends send her to me.

  • http://www.wayneliew.com Wayne Liew

    It’s fun to see how Facebook grows. The interaction opportunities on the site is great since more and more people are “getting” it. Most of the stats above are with regards to the US but Facebook is growing fast outside US as well.

    Wayne Liew’s last blog post..15 Excuses Stopping Aspiring Entrepreneurs from Starting Out

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  • Angela

    I don’t find those numbers surprising at all. I’m 26, and I have multiple older family members in the 50+ age range on my facebook. As well as coworkers, teachers, etc. I have a teen at home, and from what I can tell, because Facebook is less customizable and “full of old people” they simply aren’t as interested.

    I think the supposed “downsides” teenagers see in Facebook is what draws in an older crowd there, Less annoying kids, easy to navigate, and clean looking.

  • http://www.barbaraling.com Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach

    I’m not surprised at all either. On Facebook, not only do I have my business profile but I also have my friends profile, in which many women my age and older participate in close-knit groups.

    Facebook is also excellent for non-techie folks to reconnect with their high school/college classmates from back before the earth’s crust cooled.

    Data points, Barbara

    Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach’s last blog post..Must-have HIGH payout alternative to Google Adsense

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