The Graying of Facebook

Don’t look now but Facebook is filling up with old people. Well, old in the view of under-30′s, at least. A new Pew study shows that the number of people over 50 (which is supposed to be he new 40, right?) has doubled in the last year.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project report said that between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among Web users ages 50 to 64 grew from 25 percent to 47 percent, or 88 percent. People ages 65 and older grew from 13 percent to 26 percent.

Some 20 percent of online adults ages 50 to 64 said they use social networking sites on an average day, up from 10 percent one year ago.

While as a percentage of the entire Facebook universe, oldsters still are trailing more youthful users, they’re gathering momentum to tilt the average age of Facebook users into the grey years.

“Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of social media, but their growth pales in comparison with recent gains made by older users,” explains Mary Madden, a Pew Senior Research Specialist and author of the report. “Email is still the primary way that older users maintain contact with friends, families and colleagues, but many older users now rely on social network platforms to help manage their daily communications.”

Maybe that older tilt is why a new social media site called CollegeOnly bans parents and old folks from seeing status updates and photos.

The site’s 23-year-old founder says some college students don’t feel comfortable sharing photos and status updates with their mom, dad or others.

“You don’t necessarily go out to parties with your parents and employers,” he said. To keep out the seniors, he site only accepts those with a valid college e-mail. And to make sure the site’s targeted demographic gets what’s really happening, consider it’s logo and motto: “Connecting College Bodies,” accompanied by a photo of a buxom coed with a lot of cleavage.

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