[Graphs from Inside Facebook.com]
Most Facebook users are over 25, according to new research from Inside Facebook, which adds the following intriguing stats:
-In the last 60 days alone, the number of people over 35 has nearly doubled
-The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is still women over 55
-Over 4 million more US women 35-44 and nearly 3 million more US men 35-44 used Facebook in March 2009 compared to September 2008
-The majority of US Facebook users are now over 25
Possibly the most interesting chart (though there are lots to chew over; do see the original post) is the pie graph showing Facebook users by age:
(Big, isn't it?)
Which shows us that 18-25-year-olds make up a third of Facebook users on their own (hence the prevalence of photos tagged "drunk at PARTY!!") - but also that Facebook is ageing faster than the real population.
What does the invasion of Mum, Dad, and the grandparents mean for Facebook? That's harder to discern. Perhaps more advertising opportunities - because the older generation is more accustomed to react favourably to adverts? Or more potential revenue, because that generation has (or used to have) more money?
But the more interesting question is whether this will mean any change in the culture of Facebook - always assuming that it has any discernible culture. When you have more people as members than the biggest cities, but none of them actually has to get along - and can instead exist in their own silos, untroubled by the physical and economic questions that you'd get in a real city (trivia such as taxation, sewage disposal and crime) - then it's questionable whether there is any such thing as a "Facebook culture".
Which may be a long-winded way of saying: even if Facebook was stuffed full of octogenarians, how would you know? And would you care? Have you noticed its demographic changing? And does it matter?
