An interesting observation from the Forrester on the demographics of social networking usage.
They reckon that most of the recent growth has emanated from the elder generation.
From Researchrecap on the Forrester study (bold emphasis theirs)
``Social media can no longer be dismissed as a quirky habit of young adults."
``Social technologies continue to grow substantially in 2009. Now more than four in five US online adults use social media at least once a month, and half participate in social networks like Facebook. While young people continue to march toward almost universal adoption of social applications, the most rapid growth occurred among consumers 35 and older.
``Adults younger than 35 approached universal social participation. As we noted last year, adults ages 18 to 24 and those ages 25 to 34 adopt social media similarly. Only three percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 10% of 25- to 34-year-olds are socially Inactive. What’s more, a staggering 89% of the younger crowd are Spectators, while nearly as many are Joiners. And almost half create content, far higher than any other age group. Adults ages 25 to 34 also grew their participation across all categories — especially in social networks.
``Adults ages 35 to 54 rapidly adopted Joiner activities. Much of the growth in social networks today comes from people older than 34. Compared with last year, this group grew its participation by more than 60%, and now more than half of adults ages 35 to 44 are in social networks. Adults ages 45 to 54 grew their Joiner behavior nearly as much, but still lag behind the 35- to 44-year-olds; 38% of those ages 45 to 54 use social network sites regularly. These consumers also increased their Creator activities to the point where one in five produce social content.
``Adults 55 and older started to share and connect with each other online. Seventy percent of online adults ages 55 and older tell us they tap social tools at least once a month; 26% use social networks and 12% create social content.
A graphic on the technology ladder
Empirical experience suggests that this could be true even outside the US. And this likewise suggest that many traditional activities (radio, tv) could be replaced by social media networks bearing the same features.
Amazing innovation from free markets that has increasingly been advancing our standards of living.
They reckon that most of the recent growth has emanated from the elder generation.
From Researchrecap on the Forrester study (bold emphasis theirs)
``Social media can no longer be dismissed as a quirky habit of young adults."
``Social technologies continue to grow substantially in 2009. Now more than four in five US online adults use social media at least once a month, and half participate in social networks like Facebook. While young people continue to march toward almost universal adoption of social applications, the most rapid growth occurred among consumers 35 and older.
``Adults younger than 35 approached universal social participation. As we noted last year, adults ages 18 to 24 and those ages 25 to 34 adopt social media similarly. Only three percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 10% of 25- to 34-year-olds are socially Inactive. What’s more, a staggering 89% of the younger crowd are Spectators, while nearly as many are Joiners. And almost half create content, far higher than any other age group. Adults ages 25 to 34 also grew their participation across all categories — especially in social networks.
``Adults ages 35 to 54 rapidly adopted Joiner activities. Much of the growth in social networks today comes from people older than 34. Compared with last year, this group grew its participation by more than 60%, and now more than half of adults ages 35 to 44 are in social networks. Adults ages 45 to 54 grew their Joiner behavior nearly as much, but still lag behind the 35- to 44-year-olds; 38% of those ages 45 to 54 use social network sites regularly. These consumers also increased their Creator activities to the point where one in five produce social content.
``Adults 55 and older started to share and connect with each other online. Seventy percent of online adults ages 55 and older tell us they tap social tools at least once a month; 26% use social networks and 12% create social content.
A graphic on the technology ladder
Empirical experience suggests that this could be true even outside the US. And this likewise suggest that many traditional activities (radio, tv) could be replaced by social media networks bearing the same features.Amazing innovation from free markets that has increasingly been advancing our standards of living.
