Different Social Networks Are... Different

An anonymous reader writes "International Business Times reports that not all online social networks are the same, according to new research released this week. Internet research firm, comScore Networks, said on Thursday that significant age differences exist between the user bases of these websites. "While the top social networking sites are typically viewed as directly competing with one another, our analysis demonstrates that each site occupies a slightly different niche," commented Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix."

Also here

The original press release [comscore.com]

Submission info

It seems that /. is getting submissions with less and less substance. The submission linked a 204 word blurb that predictably had information content somewhere inbetween zero and nothing (it was a 'business times' site after all). The actual comscore article is here. [comscore.com] It has some interesting data.

Makes sense...

... different /. news items are dupes. no, wait, that's not right....

MySpace is now mostly older men because...

You think MySpace is now mostly populated by older men because it used to mostly be populated by teenage girls? (Or teenage boys; ask your local Republican about that.)

Re:MySpace is now mostly older men because...

I created a MySpace account because I like new and unusual music. In my experience, people in their 20's and 30's are more interested in unsigned bands and new music than teenagers are. In fact, the person who sent me a "request" to join MySpace was a composer of experimental "classical" music whose work I've followed for years!

MySpace has become virtually obligatory for musicians, and may be part of the path to breaking the major labels' control of the music production and distribution system.

I still can't stand MySpace, though. Hideous, hideous pages.

Re:MySpace is now mostly older men because...

That reminds me of the famous quote by an economist, can't remember who, who said, that for instance, at a ski lodge, there are many young girls looking for husbands, and many husbands looking for young girls, but the situation is not exactly transitive...

Shocking!

Wait, you're telling me that Craigslist, Myspace, and MoveOn.org have different audiences? Say it ain't so!

Thank the gods that Mark Foley has been bridging the gap between the Congressional Record and the A/S/L generation...

This is an interesting comment

The take-home message seems to be that as these sites get more entrenched in society, they look more like society at large. Myspace has over 100 million users, on paper at least. I doubt that there are 100 million kids within the site's target demographic, so it was inevitable that it get older.

I always thought of it as a site of 20somethings, not teens, though. On the other hand, I know a myspace who was 18 when I first met her, and I thought she looked 26 then. Maybe people just grow faster nowadays ...

"It will be interesting to monitor the shifts in Facebook's demographic composition that will undoubtedly occur as a result of the company's recent decision to open its doors to users of all ages."

Not only that, but Facebook always allowed its visitors to continue using the site after they left college, which would have created an upward age shift no matter what they did. Opening up their population will increase that even more, but it is impossible to tell how much due to the lack of a control.

D

teens and the men who love teens

FTA: There is a misconception that social networking is the exclusive domain of teenagers, but this analysis confirms that the appeal of social networking sites is far broader.

Of course it's not just teens. It's also all the creepy older people that need to hang out with teens. And I'm not really talking about the sexual predators, I'm just talking about the 35 year olds with tattoos and piercings clinging desperately to what's left of their diminishing youth.

So in a way, this misconception that social networking is for teens is precisely why you get so many creepy older people there - they want to be with the teens. Ironically, now that we have stories coming out like this, the social respectability of these sites will increase and we might to see some normal adults. So the creepy adults are paving the way for broad general acceptance. Not to mention the kids who get started with social sites early and then just grow up with them.

Does anyone else want to pull their hair out whenever the news media reports on tech with such a "golly gee willickers!" tone?

-stormin

Re:teens love teens

Do you habitually just jump on the end of a post and pretend to make a counterpoint to a figment of your imagination, or you are just making an exception in my case? Contrary to the impression you leave with your quotation marks (watch where you sling those things!) I never argued that FPS/space shooters were either necessary or sufficient for being "'good' or 'comfortable' with computers" (note that what I put in quotes can actually be found in your post*)

My point was simply that generations prior to ours have a hard time grasping computer concepts. I picked, purely for fun, two gaming-related examples. There are plenty others. If you've ever done any support work in your life, you've met the older men and women who want you to explain how to burn a CD and take line-by-line notes. The result? They can now burn a CD, as long as it's only the same type (e.g. data vs. music) using the exact same software on the same computer. Swap up Nero for Roxio or move the shortcuts to the burning software - and they are lost.

The generation following ours, as far as I can tell, has taken to computers like a duck to water, as it were. Not *all* kids, of course, but by and large they figure stuff out. They blog, surf, rip, burn, etc. with some degree of competence. However this competence is only superficial. Ask a lot of these kids anything about how the technology works and you'll get a blank stare. It just works.

So, generationally speaking, it seems as though the generations that were exposed to computers late enough in life to not take them for granted, but early enough in life to adapt may be a unique generation.

But don't let my questions get in the way of you sounding clever by any means.

-stormin

* I don't always use quotation marks to quote people, but the only other use I think is valid is as a literary device when describing someone speaking, and when there's little chance of the quote being misunderstood (as in my reference to "golly gee willikers!" in my first post on this topic).

So what are we saying here...?

Are you suggesting that most /.ers don't also spend time hanging out at in other technical fora [microsoft.com]? That's crazy talk.

Next up

Next up: Tautologies are tautologies!

Study must be flawed

I just can't believe that 40% of MySpace visitors are 35 years old or older, as the original article states. I'm not sure how they are measuring this, but there's all kinds of possible errors in these methods.

Re:Study must be flawed

Easy -- They're all old guys trying to pick up young girls. My name is Chinese, but most American's think it's female. In fact, they think of this lithe ice skater. The reality is that I'm an overweight, balding, gap-toothed, Asian male nerd... but I get so many requests from 45+ year old guys pretending to be 18 and feigning interest in stuff I listed as my pastimes. E.g., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hello Kitty merchandise (my daughter loves it), sushi (tons of requests to hang out for sushi and wine, lots of wine). I have emails from dozens of dudes telling me they like walking on the beach and conversations in coffee bars. I finally relate to those millions of women who get physically ill when some dude tries some pathetic line...

(Hmm.. Any females reading this please note how sensitive I am from the above post. If you want to get together to chat, let me know).

Well, duh

MySpace: Crappy bands and empty-headed teenage girls.

LiveJournal: Trolls, drama queens and emo girls who are into cutting.

Orkut: Brazilians and nobody else.

Yahoo / Yahoo 360: Bored teenagers and creepy swingers.

Friendster: Old people who are so behind the curve they think Windows is a pretty neat OS. The kind of people who call their web browser "the Internet" and use MSN Messenger.

Of course they are different

How else do you think the new ones will compete with the older and more popular ones?
But obvoiusly most of them do not cut it. I think stumbleupon and grupus are two good ideas I have seen in recent times.

sorry for the anonymous posting. in a library right now.

New Market

Hmmm.. I see nobody has tapped the 1-12 market yet. It's a potential gold mine! They are the social networkers of the future afterall!

Bizarre

This is like saying that different cafes attract different kinds of people

In a related story...

...fun things are fun.

A known problem.

Every social network trying to solve one known problem - how to waste time effectively [google.com] and efficiently. Some of them has a complite success.

In other news...

... bananas taste different than oranges.

Different Social Networks Are... Different

*Insightful*

MySpace attracts older people?

I'm willing to bet that 5% of MySpace users are exactly "99" years old. I know from experience that almost every MySpace user under the age of 16 lies about their age on their myspace profile. I don't think this study can accurately measure a statistic that's guaranteed to be skewed by underage liars.

Re:and this is news?

I've got additional news. Different e-mail services offer different features. Mind blowing I know.

Re:more FUD from the myspace crowd

Congressman Foley, is that you?

LK