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The Internet is for Teeny Boppers

False. Take a few minutes to look at the data above and let me tell you why it’s interesting:

• 5% of people over age 62 create web content (blogs, podcasts, etc). That means that in a room of 20 people aged 62 or over, at least ONE posts content to the internet. Take that, you lil buggers!
• In a room of 17 senior citizens, at least one has joined a social network. Yeah, Grammy’s on Facebook too, y’all!
• So one of every nine seniors you know actually comment on blogs and post critiques and ratings. Makes sense, right? I mean who is more opinionated than Grandpa? YOU try adjusting the thermostat. Sheesh.

Tech savvy behavior is becoming mainstream. Or not.

Because I study social networking, I am immersed in a world of shiny and new and by the time some people adopt tools, I’ve used, abused and quit them by a few years so it’s easy for early adopters like me to take for granted how advanced others are. Here are some stats that surprised me:

• Only 30% of GenY and 19% of GenX create content. That seems so low, I had expected a much much much higher number as it seems so many bloggers are in this age range.
• No age group uses RSS readers at a rate over 18%. That means no generation is conditioned to use RSS over another. It also means that RSS is still totally underutilized (much to my surprise).
• 19% more GenYers than Young Teens join social networks. This implies that the highest rate of social networkers is in the college category which supports some theories and debunks others. This one will be a demo to watch closely, it WILL change over the next three years.

The landscape is changing

This same infographic will be different in the next several years and within a decade will be severely different; I predict much higher numbers of use in ALL age groups and believe the rate of most rapid growth will continue to be in the older age ranges as social media is no longer seen as a kid’s toy but rather a crucial marketing tool.

How do you think the web scene will change over the coming years?

Hitwise Intelligence reports that “one year ago, visits to Facebook represented 15% of the total social networking category while MySpace captured 73%. In January 2009, Facebook’s share doubled to reach 31%, while MySpace’s total share of the category eroded to 57%.”

Hitwise also reports that time users remain on the page is trending up for Facebook and remaining the same on MySpace (despite declining numbers). In 2008, Facebook released several features such as chat, and Facebook applications have rapidly grown in popularity.

Tasty Numbers:

Also of note is that the Facebook user demographic is changing with the 18-24 demo declining over the last 12 months and the 25-34 crowd booming. What’s interesting about the Myspace/Facebook study is that users with household incomes under 60k are in higher number on MySpace while those earning over 60k populate Facebook more frequently.

So in five years, Facebook has become the fifth most highly ranked website by total market share of visits in January 2009.

Why Facebook is Prospering:

How come MySpace is declining while Facebook is prospering? I believe several reasons can be attributed to this shift in website market share:

1. Adaptation: Facebook continues to adapt to a wider demographic by continuing to manicure their services while MySpace sticks to their tried and true methods. The MySpace strategy isn’t a bad one, users are never alienated, but Facebook users spend more and more time on the site discovering new offerings.
2. Pollenation: Facebook has several applications and ways to populate users’ own sites while allowing users to bring their social networking content elsewhere to autopopulate their Facebook profile.
3. User Interface: let’s face it, MySpace has a less serious interface which is great for specific demographics but for businesses may be less comfortable. The MySpace advantage is that it is highly customizable giving each user an independent feel but some may say this lends to the immature feel of the space.
4. Friends: the very act of “friending” is far different between the two platforms with MySpace being a more youthful social feel while Facebook tends to allow a more professional atmosphere if one seeks it. Porn stars and musicians are more popular on MySpace than on Facebook while CEOs and politicians are more popular on Facebook.

With the current trends taken into account, Facebook is suited for dominating the space over this next year with its diverse demographic and its continued adaptation making it prime space for any professional or social networker to be present.

We learned that Twitter grew 752%, Facebook has 150 million users, YouTube now hosts 44% of all online video, LinkedIn users have awesome household incomes, Flickr has over 3 billion images and that one million blog posts are written every day across the globe.

Check out our FULL REPORT which covers 2008 statistics for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Wikipedia and blogs.