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Over-50s Invade the Social Networking Scene 230

Posted by CowboyNeal from the old-folks-have-friends-too dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Telegraph newspaper reports that over-50s are invading sites like Facebook and MySpace in massive numbers. A recent study showed that nearly one third of Facebook users are aged between 35 and 54, and that this group also made up 41 percent of MySpace users. "Because the mind of an over-50 is likely superior to that of a drink-addled undergrad, at first there was uncertainty about whether older users would find the Facebook-led social-networking phenomena attractive." Looks like dad just turned up to the party."
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Over-50s Invade the Social Networking Scene More

Over-50s Invade the Social Networking Scene

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  • All this makes me think of is... (Score:4, Funny)

    by doyoulikeworms ( 1094003 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @03:49AM (#21208809)
    To Catch a Predator. [wikipedia.org]

  • over 50 or over 35 (Score:5, Informative)

    by mrvan ( 973822 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @03:52AM (#21208837)
    So are they 'over 50's' or are they 'between 35 and 54'? I know that from the perspective of a teenager it all classifies as "really old", but some of us make more subtle distinctions...

    • Re:over 50 or over 35 (Score:5, Funny)

      by paedobear ( 808689 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @03:59AM (#21208869)
      From the perspective of a typical Daily Telegraph reader, they're all "youngsters", so there's no point in making a distinction.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by ThirdPrize ( 938147 )
      WrinklyFaceBook? Shudder!
    • As I 36 year old, this article makes me feel really old.
    • 35 is greater than 50, in Microsoft Excel.
    • It seems like 69 year olds have had profiles on MySpace since the second day it was live!
    • I wonder how long before microsoft gets the AARP to en masse subscribe its subscribers to Facebook.

      Seriously, tho, it'll make for interesting mentorships, but then it would give ms a chance to pull the wool over the eyes of any companies in position to make Facebook look like it's going to "take off" under ms' "stewardship"...

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Seumas ( 6865 )
      I don't really see how this is a big deal. I have news for everyone in highschool and college -- you didn't invent the internet. You didn't even make it popular. Is it really so shocking that people 35 to 54 (about the same age as the CHILDREN of the men who popularized the internet as we currently know it) are using services on the internet?

      This study just shows how self centered kids are these days. Their entire use of the internet revolves around instant messaging and posting naked photos of themselves a

  • The question is (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Will it take them less than 4 days to find the email addresses of old friends and then realise that the rest of the site is pointless crap, and that they can't remove their profiles?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      My question is, when will they change the name from "facebook" to "facelift"?
       
      CAPTCHA: ambled

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rvw ( 755107 )

        My question is, when will they change the name from "facebook" to "facelift"?
        Maybe when you need one?

  • Age bias ... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by foobsr ( 693224 )
    Headline: Over-50s Invade the Social Networking Scene
    Then: one third of Facebook users are aged between 35 and 54

    Gives some evidence that you may well feel like 50 if you are 35 (especially if you are looking for a job in Germany). Luckily, this does not apply to me, being well over 50 and having 'retired from reality' (as someone mentioned here).

    CC.

  • oh, dear (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Elise DiPace ( 1153487 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:06AM (#21208899)
    "Because the mind of an over-50 is likely superior to that of a drink-addled undergrad, at first there was uncertainty about whether older users would find the Facebook-led social-networking phenomena attractive."

    So the over-50's were never drink-addled undergrads? Does this mean I'm not going to make it to 50?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Silver Sloth ( 770927 )
      Most of the over 50's I know - and that's quite a few as I'm 54 - are still drinking and smoking just as much as we used to in our undergrad days. I'd strongly disagree with the very ageist statment that my mind is 'superior' to a younger person's - Ok, I've been rund the block a few more times and have a better degree from the 'University of Life' but superior - I wouldn't be that smug. Maybe this is why I don't buy the Torygraph.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by BadAnalogyGuy ( 945258 )
        Anyone who is posting on Slashdot in their 20s has no life.

        Anyone who is posting on Slashdot in their 50s has had no life.

        • Re:oh, dear (Score:4, Funny)

          by zoomshorts ( 137587 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @05:19AM (#21209337)
          Actually we are living well and posting on Slashdot. WE have the time now.
          The rest of you have to go to school or WORK. Shudder. And a Beer and Slashdot,
          what could be better?

          Don't say Camming Nude, that is SOOO CUSEEME ! Circa 1995.

        • Anyone who is posting on Slashdot in their 20s has no life. Anyone who is posting on Slashdot in their 50s has had no life.
          Anyone in their 30s or 40s is raising kids / working too hard to have any life.

          It's quite sad really, but most people don't have a life.

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by SyscRAsH ( 127068 )
            That's life.

            Ironic isn't it?

          • Anyone in their 30s or 40s is raising kids / working too hard to have any life.
            That is life, what else is there really?. If I wanted to throw it all away and sleep alone on a park bench, well, nothing is stopping me.

            • That is life, what else is there really?
              Fast cars, loose women, and fine whiskey.

            • If I wanted to throw it all away and sleep alone on a park bench, well, nothing is stopping me.
              Lucky, the police are always making me move!
          • Dude, I'm 33 and not raising kids nor working too hard to have a life.
            It's probably best not to generalize.
            Yes, I'm in the IT industry.
            I'm a unix systems administrator level 2.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by russotto ( 537200 )

          Anyone who is posting on Slashdot in their 50s has had no life.


          Your generalization misses the bitter and lonely divorced men in their 50s, who had a life and lost it.

          (Who, me? Not yet, anyway.)
    • So the over-50's were never drink-addled undergrads? Does this mean I'm not going to make it to 50?

      No, you'll just have a missing year [salon.com]. It will never have happened.

  • The math's not wrong! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by xzaph ( 1157805 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:11AM (#21208929)
    Apparently, the title was just based off the fact that the age range must have been in hexadecimal. Right? Yeah...

  • A dream come true... (Score:5, Funny)

    by physicsphairy ( 720718 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:21AM (#21209003)
    Previously, my desires to flame the dean of students, trick him into clicking a goatse link, and infect his computer with gay porn had all been sadly unfulfilled due to his troglodytic eschewing of modern technology.

    But now that the elder generation is seeking parity with the younger, we can at last unveil the full weaponry of the internet.

  • Definitivly confirmed as true. (Score:5, Funny)

    by HybridJeff ( 717521 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:24AM (#21209013) Homepage
    Coincidentally my Dad just signed up for Facebook last week (he's 58). So having noted that, I can now definitively say, without having actually read the article (because, really who does that?) and having examined exactly one piece of anecdotal evidence: the over 50 crown is definitely joining social networking sites in droves.

  • Recommendation, or condemnation? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pla ( 258480 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:24AM (#21209019) Journal
    Because the mind of an over-50 is likely superior to that of a drink-addled undergrad, at first there was uncertainty about whether older users would find the Facebook-led social-networking phenomena attractive.

    I've passed my [drink]-addled college years and haven't passed 50 yet, but I have to say, FP author, you've managed to write a summary that insults pretty much everybody! Kudos!

    That said, clearly the presense of these older folks on the ego-aggregator networks demonstrates that some of them still do have drink-addled minds.



    A recent study showed that nearly one third of Facebook users are aged between 35 and 54

    Statistics abuse time - That also means that a third of facebook users have ages between 35 and 84! Quick, re-write the FP title, the Octogenarian Invasion has begun!

  • Great I'm in that demographic now (Score:3, Funny)

    by MrCopilot ( 871878 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:47AM (#21209161) Homepage Journal
    Just turned 35 and now I'm lumped in with my dad (also on myspace along with my son).

    Get off my Lawn!

  • "get off my lawn" via a facebook post?

  • Facebook is dead. (Score:3, Funny)

    by eniac42 ( 1144799 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @04:48AM (#21209165) Journal
    Welcome to GetOffMyLawnBook.com!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xyrus ( 755017 )
      "Welcome to GetOffMyLawnBook.com!"

      A wholly own subsidiary of the WellBackInMyDay corporation.

      ~X~

  • Embarressing parents (Score:3, Funny)

    by wodon ( 563966 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @05:00AM (#21209239)
    How long before we start seeing our parents posting embarrassing messages on our walls though?

    "Hey son, those are some rad tunes on your interblog site! What's that? It's got a good beat!"

    Thank god they can't dance online. (obligatory Mary Whitehouse experience reference)

    In fact my mother just set up a facebook page, the horror.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 )
      Or you might find a note on your facebook page, telling you in no uncertain terms that Billy's mom doesn't want you to hang out on her son's page.
    • Which brings up the ultimate nightmare scenario, revenge for all the grief we've caused our poor, dear mothers. How about her picture blog with your baby Polaroids, including the full frontal nudity ones in the backyard Toys-R-Us inflatable swimming pool?

      One of the first and most dangerous leaps in this direction was Apple's iWeb, which took the geek factor (read: intimidating) out of the picture.

      So, lesson one for the time being: dissuade your mom from getting both a scanner and an iMac. If she's just a

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ettlz ( 639203 )
      Dunno about embarrassing messages, but I've run into a few Facebook walls adorned with Lemonparty...

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Demerara ( 256642 )
      I think it was Danny Baker, the UK DJ/talk radio/TV host who said that "we are the first generation who are hipper than our children". Those of us who lived through punk and new wave (70's and early 80's) in particular saw how "youf" culture was slowly but inevitably swallowed up by the brand giants.

      The vast majority of young people are hoodwinked into buying stuff and thinking it and themselves cool/hip/trendy when they're simply meeting the projections of the corporate marketing suits.

      Naturally, there's a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by isaac ( 2852 )

        I think it was Danny Baker, the UK DJ/talk radio/TV host who said that "we are the first generation who are hipper than our children". Those of us who lived through punk and new wave (70's and early 80's) in particular saw how "youf" culture was slowly but inevitably swallowed up by the brand giants.

        The vast majority of young people are hoodwinked into buying stuff and thinking it and themselves cool/hip/trendy when they're simply meeting the projections of the corporate marketing suits.

        The Monkees outsold

        • I have to disagree, actually - I've really seen a lot of parents who still keep up with indie music, whose kids are stuck on mass market stuff. Mom and Dad like The Arcade Fire and Animal Collective, the kid is into Justin Timberlake. And it's not a "rebelling against parents" thing, either - it's more like a substantial aesthetic incuriosity.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by isaac ( 2852 )

            I have to disagree, actually - I've really seen a lot of parents who still keep up with indie music, whose kids are stuck on mass market stuff. Mom and Dad like The Arcade Fire and Animal Collective, the kid is into Justin Timberlake. And it's not a "rebelling against parents" thing, either - it's more like a substantial aesthetic incuriosity.

            Or maybe mom and dad grew up with - and like - the rock and roll that's dead as a popular genre, so they follow the indie niche inheritors of that stylistic mantle.

            • There is some of that - a person who comes of age in the 80's and then is listening to Architecture in Helsinki or Bonobo or such now seems more coherent than one that is listening to, say, Jay-Z or even Danger Mouse (although I do listen to Danger Mouse). The thing is, the independent scene for non-rock draws a lot less interest as well. What I really think has happened is a kind of capitulation: culture is now accepted, uncritically, as a product, except when there is a response based on remix or mash-up.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Zoxed ( 676559 )
      > How long before we start seeing our parents posting embarrassing messages on our walls though?

      "embarrassing messages" ? : wait till we scan in and post the embarrassing childhood photos and videos (your childhood, not ours !).
  • What about drink-addled over-50 year olds?
  • Old people can be serious drunks at parties and do wild, stupid, and crazy things. They can be needy, impulsive, and wanting popularity. The only difference between them and me is that I'm cool and they're not!.. and also i don't have kids or a mortgage or any real responsibilities other than myself.
    • Wow... I read this and just have to ask... are you *trying* to be sarcastic?
      Just curious, otherwise your just being a clueless idiot :)

  • My Demographic (Score:5, Funny)

    by hyades1 ( 1149581 ) <hyades1@hotmail.com> on Friday November 02, 2007 @05:29AM (#21209389)
    Just because you're older doesn't mean you're a techno-moron. I'm in that demographic, and I even hang out with the Slashdot crowd once in a while and I, ah, what was the question? Why am I downstairs?

  • Not surprising (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Edgyboy ( 1157885 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @05:42AM (#21209461) Homepage
    To me, this isn't surprising. .
    .
    Older people, like everyone else, have a need for social interaction. But as they grow older, they are less and less willing to go out and/or meet up in the traditional sense - bars, restaurants, etc. Soc. network are ideal for them - they are easy to use and through them, the older crowd can fulfill their basic human need without having to leave their home.

    Anyway, if Facebook make just one mother stop complaining to her grown up children about not visiting - we should all rejoice!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Yer Mom ( 78107 )

      Anyway, if Facebook make just one mother stop complaining to her grown up children about not visiting - we should all rejoice!

      No, instead she'll just complain that the kids never write on her wall...

  • Oh great!

    I thought the whole point of "Social Networking" was to be socialiable??!!

    One of the great aspects of the Internet was anyone could take part, no matter your race, religion, colour or *age* everyone is equal behind the keyboard.

    After reading some of the negative comments on this thread it saddens me there are people who obviously find people of "a certain age" offensive.

    Me? I am 37 years old and have no hang-ups or insecurites about my age at all (I never did)!

    As this thread continues I am hoping m

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by $1uck ( 710826 )
      The funny thing it is *inevitable* *you* will reach this age one day...HaHaHa
      Hopefully. There is another option one that most people would do just about anything to avoid. So yeah, if you're luck you *will* reach that age.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by MollyB ( 162595 ) *
      I was over fifty when I got my account on Slashdot, late last century. I've noticed a Peanut Gallery of snotty young pukes that are present in almost every discussion. So what? In spite of that, there is wheat in the chaff, but it takes patience to find it. I hope your comment:

      As this thread continues I am hoping many more positive posts will outweigh the negative comments I have seen so far otherwise I will have to re-consider participating in Slashdot.

      You, at 37, seem wise beyond your years, and I hope for the sake of like-minded Slashdotters that you stick around. Slashdot is the closest thing to social networking I'd ever consider. Who wants to hang around a bunch of self-absorb

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by mrpacmanjel ( 38218 )
        I never did go for this 'new-fangled htmlised' comment posting!

        My ancient weathered fingers can't take the extra typing of the tags on the keyboard!

        (ironically I am wearing a 'splint' on my left hand due to a RSI! a sure sign of old age - maybe I should stop typing from the bedroom window!)

        Ahhh there's my sense of humour I wondered where it went to!

        Joking aside...

        This is the only forum I feel I truly belong - I very seldom post comments anywhere else.
        There are people from many different backgrounds here whi

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by russotto ( 537200 )

      I thought the whole point of "Social Networking" was to be socialiable??!!

      No, the point of "Social Networking" is to find people JUST LIKE YOU, only in a much larger area than you can cover with traditional networking.

      One of the great aspects of the Internet was anyone could take part, no matter your race, religion, colour or *age* everyone is equal behind the keyboard.

      That was just Usenet (before it was dominated by binaries).

  • First of all... (Score:4, Funny)

    by voss ( 52565 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @06:14AM (#21209619)
    A 35 year old is not a baby boomer Anyone born in the 68-82 is generation X.

    Which includes
    Gwen Stefani
    Cameron Diaz
    Drew Barrymore

    This is not your moms generation this is your younger hot stepmoms generation ;-)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gilmoure ( 18428 )
      Whew! I was born in '67. So glad I missed that Gen X label.

      'Boomers!
  • MySpace Invaders. Bada-bum!

  • I use it for business (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gelfling ( 6534 ) on Friday November 02, 2007 @07:02AM (#21209913) Homepage Journal
    I figure that's where all my customers are hanging out so why not be there. It has nothing to do with my social activity and everything to do with their social activity.
  • I've been using computer-based social networking since the 1980s, at that time on dial-up systems. Sure, now I'm over 50, but I haven't invaded anyone's party, all you young guns have joined in ours. And that's not an invasion: you're welcome (as long as you've brought a bottle).
  • Looks like dad just turned up to the party.

    Funny when that happened, I would start either packing up to leave with him or looking for a way to leave before he sees me... either way, I left the party.
  • Intertoober 1: "Wow, Jerry, look - is that an OLD guy?"
    Intertoober 2: "I don't know, maybe it's an old woman"
    Intertoober 3: "Woof woof! On the intertoobs, nobody knows you're a geezer!"

    Looks like one of the geezers running the Telegraph finally got an internet connection, and with awe and amazement discovered that he wasn't the only one.

    I've been on the internet since 1997 when I started my web site [mcgrew.info], originally hosted by my ISP before registering the domain. I ran a FPS gaming site from late that year for a

  • Reading these posts has been a bit surreal. "Old" really is just a point-of-view isn't it? Don't fear this demographic, OK?. For most of us, this is right about the time in our careers where we can finally afford the really "cool" toys. :).

    As for me, not only do I have a MySpace page, I have an "Artist" MySpace page because I do stand-up comedy in the Baltimore/DC area.

  • I'm not much of a myspace person but I have an account (I'm 42), the reason was a friend of mine said to check out her myspace page and I had to sign up in order to do so. I am sure the same goes for many others.
  • You cant really make much of a dent into a sub-network unless you possess an email address of that domain. That works pretty well for college and company networks, because email addresses there are very restricted. High school, city and other networks dont possess this advantage.

  • Over-50s Invade the Social Networking Scene

    Make that over-90's! And I'm not even talking about people who are exactly 99 on MySpace, I mean come on, has someone been pouring massive doses of testosterone in the water back in 1907 or what?

  • While I'm only mid-forties, I did make a myspace page. Kept it up for about a month. I received numerous invitations from a lot of silly people for odd things. The majority of these were women who wanted me to see their web cams or wanted to be 'reely goodly frends.' The latter came mostly from former Soviet-bloc countries.

    I cancelled it, and fortunately hadn't used any real infomation (except my age). So, do the younger guys get the same messages? (I don't want to think about the crap my 17 year old daught
  • That is, some level of involvement with your kids.

    I'm on Facebook and MySpace, the only reason: My kids can be on only if they add me as a friend.

    I don't post random embarrassing messages on their walls or post those fun playing-naked-in-the-kiddie-pool pictures from their younger days. The message is that I care enough about them to want to have an awareness of what is going on but also show them they can trust me enough not to be snooping around all the time and getting in the way.

    Truth is, I haven't log

  • Browsing through ComScore's website for the study that's quoted in the article, I found this study from October 2006 [comscore.com]. The numbers quoted are awfully close to the info in the news article, so I'm guessing that we're looking at one of two things:

    • The newspaper is using statistics from an Oct 2006 article and presenting it as current information, where actual 2007 information will be completely different from what it was a year ago; or...
    • There is a new statistic report out with an Oct 2007 date on it, and t

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