Youths No Longer Predominant on MySpace 246
mikesd81 writes "The Associated Press is reporting on the rapid aging of MySpace. More than half of MySpace's users are now 35 or older. From the article: 'Just a year ago, teens under 18 made up about 25 percent of MySpace, the popular online hangout run by News Corp. That's now down to 12 percent in the comScore analysis released Thursday. By contrast, the 35-54 group at MySpace grew to 41 percent in August, from 32 percent a year earlier ... The study was based on comScore's regular panels for measuring Internet audiences, rather than MySpace's registration information, where users often lie about their age.'"
Lies! (Score:1, Insightful)
I'm doubt these statistics are correct... (Score:3, Insightful)
A little closer to reality... (Score:2, Insightful)
The former are usually the actual 14 and 15 yr olds, lying about their age to not have a private profile. And the later of the above are often the older audience lying about their age to HAVE a private profile. Many of which don't realize anyone can choose to be private now (previously only underage users).
Go figure.
* this does not include Music accounts - which are by default, over 100 yrs old.
Re:I'm doubt these statistics are correct... (Score:5, Insightful)
Between that and movies (myspace.com/moviename), it's pretty amazing to see how that service has become mainstreamed and co-opted by the adult/business world.
Re:Seriously... (Score:3, Insightful)
Comeon. Give me a break...as annoying as a lot of myspace users may be the service sure isn't useless, and it's only as dangerous as the user will allow it to be. It *is* a good way to stay in touch and find people you may have been friends wtih in the past but don't have any other means of communication between...and being in a band (I am) you cannot do *anything* anymore without a myspace account. It's very very handy to promote directly to people that want to know about you, provided you don't just blanket add everyone you can. Used correctly Myspace is a very good tool for a number of things.
What a double-standard (Score:5, Insightful)
Kid's hanging out of MySpace are just being kids, but middle aged adults are predetors and/or lying about their age? is that about right?
What is this, the modern interpretation of "never trust anyone over 30 years old"? Some us "old timers" still enjoy meeting new people from time to time.
When I initially saw the article I thought, "cool, people my age, maybe I'll set up an account". This thread has been kinda depressing.
Maybe....just maybe...the notion of networking with people across the internet is becoming a more mainstream idea. This is kind of reminiscent of an old gopher site called "occ" which I used to use for job hunting. Nowadays, it's a web site called "Monster", and one of serveral such sites. Like many others, I maintain an online resume as a matter of course.
It could be that social networking sites are evolving to the same level.
Huh? (Score:4, Insightful)
It may be hard to comprehend for someone whose world revolves around a computer in a basement, but most humans are _social_ beings. Yes, I know, mind boggles. There are plenty of reasons for people, even aged 35+, to interact with other people in a real or virtual community, that _don't_ involve looking for 13 year olds to fuck. Like, you know, interacting with other 35+ people.
Re:because its so yesterday (Score:3, Insightful)
Nothing freaks out a kid like thinking they might agree with their parents about what is cool.
Re:Or faking their age (Score:5, Insightful)
I think I've been to myspace maybe half a dozen times in total. I find the layout of most pages visually offensive. Useless sensory overload.
Teens look for a community of their own. They find one, build it, make it good, then the corporations move in to make money off of it. That lasts for a while, then the corporations eventually destroy it. Good example: Rap. I could come up with more.
Re:Huh? (Score:2, Insightful)
No Good For Working Folks (Score:2, Insightful)
Media Creates a StereoType (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Seriously... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'd like to know how they measure age (Score:1, Insightful)
http://www.google.com/search?q=marketscore+spywar
Re:Huh? (Score:1, Insightful)
Agreed, only..... why myspace?
After all the "easy internet sex with young girls" type reporting in the big 3 media, the membership, and average age, of new users skyrocketed in myspace.
A lot are there for very valid reasons, a lot are there becasue they think they will be able to find some 16 year old girl to screw.
Also, there are few reason for these virtual communities. The whole point of them is to meet people you will never actually meet. Want some social interaction. Try striking up a conversation with somebody, that alwasy seesm to work well for me.
Re:I'm doubt these statistics are correct... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:because its so yesterday (Score:4, Insightful)
Dont listen to this guy, your kids will see right through it. He is right in one respect though - teens want their own area in which to interact. You keep following them to all their places, whether online or in real life, and they'll keep looking for new places.
116 million MySpace accounts so far... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
If it weren't for the "adults", there would be no myspace for you to show off risque pictures of yourself on. So shaddap.
Re:because its so yesterday (Score:3, Insightful)
Interesting. It seems to me that YouTube is already between #3 and #4. Where are the cool kids now?
I also wonder how many of those older my-spacers are the parents of the teenagers with accounts used basically to spy on their kids.Remember, girls ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure the large number of teanie boppers that register as 99 years old to avoid stalkers, creeps, and weirdos may have thrown the statistics off just a little bit.
Remember, girls, if you try to project a highly sexual image to the world, that only teenaged boys will look and be interested. Anybody over 20 who's attention you catch is a "stalker, creep, and weirdo".
This idea's pretty weird, yet millions of kids seem to believe it ...
Re:because its so yesterday (Score:2, Insightful)
You obviously don't have kids. In 95% of situations, you ARE a loser in your kid's eyes when they are 12 to 20. They rebel, they want to disassociate and they are prepetually embarrased by everything you do, even if you don't deserve it. It is called being a teenager.
The key isn't to embrace everything they love, it is to embrace everything that they love and you want them to stay away from.
Re:What a double-standard (Score:3, Insightful)
Myspace is like a fancy telephone: it's another way of communicating. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with it other than having Tom as your friend and making it way too easy to design really tacky-looking pages. One of my friends uses it for hooking up with cute 19-year-olds. Another uses it for announcing his wine-and-cheese parties and hiking schedules. It's neither good nor bad: it simply is.
Heh (Score:4, Insightful)
Except in this case there is nothing about MySpace that says "kids only site". We're not talking about adults on some kindergarten's "I like ponies" chatroom (though even there they might have legitimate reasons to be, like making sure what their own kid could see there), we're talking about adults on a site that always had adult profiles too. It was never marketted as a teen-only site, it never had any mention of being a teen-only site, etc. So exactly _what_ warning signs would an adult have to tell them "it's a kid only place, they'll look funny at you if you go there"?
All you have there is some "omg, there are pedos on MySpace" media scare (and even there it's been only a couple of cases), and from there a bunch of people basically seem to extrapolate that everyone else there must be one. Which is a classic extrapolation fallacy, of the kind that goes "cats are mammals, hence all mammals are cats."
Or to put it otherwise, it's as illogical as reading that there was a rape in the central park, and from there assuming that every single male in the central park must be a rapist looking for a victim. Or that there are fraudsters on Ebay, hence everyone using Ebay must be looking for someone to scam. Etc.
How to read Slashdot (Score:3, Insightful)
Secondly, just because Slashdotters joke about MySpace (often these jokes are in poor taste, I agree) or have opinions about MySpace does not mean they are uninformed.
Thirdly, the assumption that Slashdotters are "stupid Americans" because they do not share your opinion of MySpace is irrational.
Matters of fact: MySpace runs on a server-side scripting language few Slashdotters have any respect for (ColdFusion), MySpace pages are often unreadable due to user customization (example: black text on dark background, not a fault of MySpace), few MySpace pages satisfy W3C standards (something Blogger Beta also has problems with currently), MySpace is owned by News Corporation (the world's biggest source of misinformation), open-ended customization options leave MySpace vulnerable to social engineering tactics that can lead to end-user installation of malware. Most importantly: MySpace is not the only "social networking" site; for example: Slashdot (to a certain extent).
Please do not assume this to be an excuse or argument. It is not. It is an explanation. Why do Slashdotters have a low opinion of MySpace? The above list.
Currently, my Blogger Beta site is experiencing many of the same issues (for example, I prefer XHTML 1.1 which does not allow for iframes) and I do not claim to have a perfect solution. I simply ask you to remember that criticisms of MySpace are not criticisms of social networking (any more than criticisms of certain politicians are criticisms of democracy). Something better will come along.
Re:Heh (Score:4, Insightful)
There's also the "Good GOD, Myspace is such a shithole, no self respecting adult would WANT to go there" part of it that probably throws people.
The Myspace thing makes sense for kids. They don't have cars (to spend time with real-life friends) and they're angst ridden (thus they need somewhere to gush their little emo selves). But for well adjusted adults, I don't get the appeal.