Research published this week by Nielsen has shown that membership of the social network Facebook has risen by 84% by those aged 50 – 64. Apart from this showing that Facebook is not just the preserve of the young, it will also come as welcome news for advertisers, as silver haired surfers tend to have a high level of spending power. Facebook advertising is extremely targeted as by virtue of someone joining, the company have lots of useful metrics with which to target ads. However, as some have pointed out, if too many ‘oldies’ were to sign up it might put off the younger generation might eventually be put off.
James Smythe from the company who carried out the research said that…”..the growth in audiences to these social networks is now primarily being driven by the 50-plus age group. Just a few years ago, this group may have found itself out of place on these sites; now, on Facebook, for example, they account for more new adults visiting the site in the last two years than the under-50s.” Moreover, it appears that it is not just the ‘babyboomer’ generation that are creating accounts on Facebook, membership of the social network also grew by 81% for those aged 65 and over.
Other research this year suggested then one in seven grandparents used Facebook to keep in touch with relatives.
