Over-50s Invade the Social Networking Scene

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."

Comments

All this makes me think of is...

[doyoulikeworms]

To Catch a Predator.

Re:All this makes me think of is...

[moogs]

The invaders?

TAKE OFF EVERY ZIG

FOR GREAT JUSTICE

stupid lameness filter marked my post for YELLING like it's a bitch, so i'm going to fill up the rest of the space with smaller letters

waaaaaaa

fuck the world, my karma is bad already :P

we should kill them

[Anonymous Coward]

fucking parasites and their investment properties

I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish the Baby Boomers would just die.
What a worthless bunch of narcissistic pompous asses. God I can hardly wait until they die.
I really can't think of anything that the Baby Boomer's have gained control of that they have left better than they found it.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[mangu]

I really can't think of anything that the Baby Boomer's have gained control of that they have left better than they found it.

The first two answers that came to my mind: the computer industry and the Cold War.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I'll give you two contra-answers: Political Correctness and the current Presidency.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[CoonAss56]

As a over 50 guy, I guess we will have to re-educate you as to how you received life. Since you are posting here you are probably a product-(as are most of the smart-assed comments here) of a boomer. We stopped the Vietnam War, gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else, won the space race, gave you the ability to even post your snarky comments due to the fact that we pushed technology forward. These are just a few of the many things we have contributed to the greater good. Now please tell me what your chicken-shit generation have done except sit back on your ass and whine about how shitty every thing is. The difference between us and you is when we seen something that was wrong we DID something about it!

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[BadAnalogyGuy]

To quote one of your own generation: "what have you done for me lately?"

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Tim Browse]

I think that was his question, actually.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[ZeroExistenZ]

gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else

May I suggest some light reading, of someone of your generation.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Antiocheian]

And again, you limit yourself to what happened in your youth failing to understand that your useful lives were not limited in your twenties; but the problem is that you refuse to see how sick we are of listening to your pompous pontification and your refusal to see yourselves in the mirror.

My grandad was a much more interesting guy that you will ever be because he accepted his old age and he was a respected old man and also because his stories about the 2nd World War were always much more interesting to the endless "We stopped the Vietnam War, gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else [and outsourced the economy so that you will never have the opportunity to live in the economic stability we enjoyed from our fathers]"

Asshole.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

So you want us all to die huh?

Okey dokey....You can pay your tuition, room and board and get a part time job for spending money. You may want to work more than part time if you want a social life or a car, and don't forget gas, repairs, and insurance.

You'll have to find a place to live when you aren't in school. We are dead and gone and so is the house and the lifestyle we have given you.

When you graduate you can get a job without any help from us. Then you can buy a house that is equal or better than the lifestyle we gave you. You can buy all of the furniture, appliances and buy your own tech toys and cars. Oh yes, don't forget health insurance, property taxes, Federal, State and local taxes. Then there are the day to day consumables like food, clothing, electric, heat, water, etc...

If you want a social life or vacations or hobbies as well you better get yourself a very good job.

Sorry we have been such a bother. We'll be going on our way now.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

We stopped the Vietnam War,
No you didn't. You tried for seven years but it was the powers that be that finally pulled the plug (then tried to save face by blaming it on you).

gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else,
No you didn't. It was Lyndon Baines Johnson and his Supreme Court appointees, such as Thurgood Marshall, who passed and enacted the laws. And they weren't quite baby boomers, now were they?

won the space race,
No you didn't. It was not-quite baby boomer engineers who did the lion's share of the work, mostly you got to see it on the teevee. And even then, the case can be made that the Space Race took the most expensive and disposable shortcut, thereby scuttling future platforms that would have created a more pervasive human presence in space today. All due to irrational fear - then it was the communists, now it's terrorism. You've never been able to erase the nuclear bomb drills in elementary school from your mind, have you?

gave you the ability to even post your snarky comments due to the fact that we pushed technology forward.
I'll lukewarmly grant you the fact that a microscopic minority of baby boomers have been visionaries, albeit some with monopolistic tendencies, giving us mediocre, vulnerable and crash-prone file-oriented software.

Humbly and with awe, I'll grant you Bob Dylan, whose messages (gospel?) you seem to have completely eradicated from your mind. Many baby boomers who get nostalgic when watching Forrest Gump think that the guy ranting and raving in Washington was Dylan, when actually it was Abbie Hoffman.

Now please tell me what your chicken-shit generation have done except sit back on your ass and whine about how shitty every thing is.
We tried in 2000 and 2004 to stop Baby Bush from being elected, but baby boomer mainstream media did a great job at disaffiliating a large percentage of the electorate. Add to that your resting on your laurels and adopting a "screw the community, I want less taxes", and you overwhelmed the common good.
We've protested en masse that the current scenario of globalization is nothing more than "What's good for McDonald's/Wall-Mart is good for the world", even as you are baffled and irritated by our outrage - "What are these spoiled brats complaining about? They're free (to choose from twenty different hamburger chains)! Get off my lawn!!!"

All of this may sound familiar, as it's almost the same as your indignation about the powers that be back in your promise-filled youthful heyday. But there is a striking, hypocritical stance that is new: you have hoarded a large slice of the economic pie, not giving the same opportunities to your youngers that your elders gave to you. You've made us work for peanuts, pontificating that flipping burgers is a great opportunity.

Also, you elected Reagan and Poppa Bush, yet nothing compares to Baby Bush (baby boomerism personified) and his dismal corporate policies, as well as stances towards science in general and global warming in particular. BTW, kids shoot each other in Columbine? Blame Marilyn Manson, panic and turn schools into preludes to Airstrip One (that's Mr George Orwell to you, buddy)!

Regarding the paleolithic sixties, we suspected that you had the power to transcend. It seems that you either didn't, or you blew it (to quote Easy Rider). Either way, the majority of the baby boomer generation has become The Great Disappointment. Your fears have made you selfishly irrational. We don't trust you, we don't believe you, we've tried to like you but you've made it soooo fucking difficult it's damn near out of reach.

Signed,
Proudly, cowardly anonymous.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[CoonAss56]

I've NEVER voted for a Republican in my life, so you can't blame the Bushies or Reagans on me. When the Iran-Contra scandal came out that we were trading arms to terrorists in lieu of hostages I knew right then that the right-wingers had taken the Constitution and wiped their ass with it. It has been downhill since then.

Since your rant left out what has your generation done and only criticized mine, I'll give you another shot
.
Could it be the Media's-(all staffed by younger folks than me) love affair with all things trivial and not one bit news-worthy be the bane of so-called news? Look at all the talking heads-Ann Coulter ring a bell?

You tell me that we have the biggest slice of the pie-(and maybe we do) but we worked for it at those menial jobs also. Your generation seems to think that they should go right to the top with little on no work experience or life experience. And being young gives you no more insight and clear thinking. Remember we were ALL young once and thought the exact same things, nothing new there, Sparky.

As for Marilyn Manson, et al. we had Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath who our parents hated just as much, and they blamed all the terrible things on them also.

Please tell me who "the powers that be" that stopped the Vietnam War? Evidently it isn't you or you would have named them. Ever heard about the 1968 Democratic Chicago mess?

As for the paleolithic 60's in music will any of your fly-by-night wannabe bands ever last as long? Not a snowball's chance in hell. They are retreading the same stuff over and over trying to create something new-here's a news flash-it ain't happening Britney.

So take your thumb out of your mouth, and shut your mouth and DO SOMETHING with your life! Because actions speak louder than words. Buh-Bye young whippersnappers.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Monsterdog]

...and then we elected Republicans left and right, rolled back those social an civil gains, and generally made a big stinky mess. We're more technologically advanced, but, frankly, it's the over-fifties that are shitting up the nest and setting a wonderful example for those following. Why should they care? They're inheriting a royally screwed world that has gret bread and circuses.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

Amen. I think what pisses these whinny self involved children off is that the population bulge is so big that we have and will continue to control the social and economic agenda.

I don't know about you but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Although what scares the hell out of me is that these are the people who will be running the world when we finally do get old.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

If we consider the "space race" to being the time between Sputnik and Apollo 11, we are looking at the period of 1957 to 1969. The oldest boomer would would be only 11 or so when it started and 23 when it finished. The space race was really won by the previous generation. You know, the one that won World War 2.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

Give us a little time. Shit, we've barely been in the workforce a decade at best.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[sm62704]

How about the environment? When I was a kid you had to roll your windows up when driving through Sauget, even when it was over 100f (38c) because the stench would burn your lungs. My parents' generation ripped a hole in the ozone, my generation outlawed CFCs worldwide and the hole is shrinking. My parents' generation started AFDC, which actually caused the poverty LBJ declared war on to get worse. My generation abolished AFDC and started TANF, which is geared to getting poor people into the workforce and out of poverty.

My parents' generation started the Vietnam war, our protests stopped it and got a President to resign in shame. Look at what your (cowardly anonymous GP) generation did - RE-ELECTED the worst President in history who started an even more senseless war just so he and his oil buddies could get rich at the expense of his country.

The only thing my generation fucked up was that we never managed to legalize pot.

And again for the cowardly anonymous GP, back in the '70s there was no incurable STD and "free love" was everywhere. Even nerds could get laid! Women would walk up to ME in bars and ask "wanna fuck?" Nowadays when a woman asks me that, my stock response is "You're a policewoman trying to bust me on a prostitution sting, aren't you?" Eat your heart out, boy. Now get the fuck off my lawn and no, you can't have your balls back!

Fucking kids... *walks away mumbling*

-mcgrew

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[sm62704]

IHBT

-mcgrew

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[porcupine8]

While I don't want to claim that your generation has done nothing useful, I take issue with a few of your claims:

gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else - You definitely get partial credit for this. However... Rosa Parks was NOT a baby boomer. Martin Luther King? NOT a baby boomer. The suffragettes? NOT baby boomers. Heck, Mary Tyler Moore? NOT a baby boomer! You guys helped, but you were only continuing the momentum started by previous generations.

won the space race - O RLY? Baby boomers born between 1942-1962 (or so, ish) were responsible for the moon landing in 1969? It was a bunch of 7-27 year olds who pulled that off?

I think you may be confusing "Thing that we did" with "thing that I happen to remember that happened before you were born." I'll give you some credit for Vietnam, and sure, you get credit for a lot of great technology in the 80s and 90s. But by the early 90s, Gen Xers were also participating in the tech boom (Gen Xers include: Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Larry Page, Sergei Brin, Linus Torvalds, Tom Anderson).

Also, if women's lib and civil rights for minorities defined your generation, I would guess that gay rights is the parallel movement that would define Gen X in many of the same ways.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[porcupine8]

You tell me that we have the biggest slice of the pie-(and maybe we do) but we worked for it at those menial jobs also. Your generation seems to think that they should go right to the top with little on no work experience or life experience. And being young gives you no more insight and clear thinking. Remember we were ALL young once and thought the exact same things, nothing new there, Sparky.

A quote from the Wikipedia Generation X page:

According to the US Census Bureau, from 1993 to 2006, males grossed less than their fathers (defined as the cohort 30-years prior, about the average age of fatherhood) at the same age, using combined real median income and based on the following criteria:[6]

* At ages 25-34, those born from about 1965-1981
* At ages 30-39, those born from about 1963-1976
* At ages 25-39, those born from about 1964-1981

It's been widely reported that Gen X is the first generation that will not surpass its parents' standard of living.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[russotto]

We stopped the Vietnam War

Oh, great job, Pops. Anyone can LOSE a war.

gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else

Yeah, and I'm a white male. Guess who got the shitty end of THAT stick?

won the space race,

Err, no, that was YOUR parents. You dropped the ball. Where's the moon base? Where's the L4 colonies?

Now please tell me what your chicken-shit generation have done

We're working our asses off trying to pay off the debts your generation incurred.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course, you realize that YOUR generation is currently using no-fly lists, terrorist watch lists, kidnappings, and police brutality to prevent Gens X and Y from repeating your activities. YOU guys are in power now, and you're doing everything you can to make this country totalitarian (so much for all that hippie "peace and love" crap, eh? There's Iraqi civilians to kill in the name of God, America, and your precious Cadillac SUV, which you bought because of the commercial which used Led Zepplin to make you feel like they cared about you). Of course, you people SAY it's "for the children" or "for the war on terror" (the concept of a war against an abstract concept started with Reagan, who you boomers just LOVED).

The "evil men in power" are YOUR guys, not ours. "The Man" is YOU. How does that feel? What is it like to have said "Never trust anyone over 30" when you were young, and now, to suddenly realize that YOU HAVE BECOME THE VERY THING YOU HATED?

As long as your crowd is acting out the "imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever" meme, you have no right to claim any high ground at ALL.

There's nothing worse than a hypocrite.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

"The only thing my generation fucked up was that we never managed to legalize pot."

Suddenly your moronic post makes a lot more sense.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Teufelsmuhle]

Troll? Really? If I had mod points, I'd mod you up Mr. Cowardly Anonymous.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[StopKoolaidPoliticsT]

My parents' generation ripped a hole in the ozone, my generation outlawed CFCs worldwide and the hole is shrinking.

We've been able to quantify the ozone for a couple of decades. Several decades of measurements of a several billion year old system does not a scientific fact guarantee.

My parents' generation started AFDC, which actually caused the poverty LBJ declared war on to get worse. My generation abolished AFDC and started TANF, which is geared to getting poor people into the workforce and out of poverty.

Your parents' generation started AFDC.... and the oldest boomers likely voted for the people who created it. Those same people (elected with the help of boomers in 1964) were the ones who declared the Social Security taxes to be part of the general fund (oops, I mean, we'll write IOUs to the Social Security Trust Fund) to balance out their budget for the increased spending.

Fast forward a couple decades and TANF is getting a handful of people into the workforce, but it doesn't solve the underlying problem of families receiving welfare generating large numbers of kids who will, in turn, either end up in jail or on welfare themselves. Your generation, not satisfied with voting in politicians (and later becoming them), who gave us a $8 trillion debt, in addition to spending the Social Security Trust Fund ensuring that your kids will have to pay for your retirement, now wants the government to permanently take over 1/7th of the US economy.

That is, of course, after your generation sold out our economy with programs like NAFTA. What won WWII? Our manufacturing ability... so lets send the jobs and capacity overseas. Meanwhile, we'll raise minimum wage again, causing mass inflation to benefit some teenagers while those who make more than minimum wage (read low income adults who can't get a manufacturing job anymore) don't get a similar increase.

As long as we're on the subject of money, let's double what we spend on education while results continue to get worse. Kids today can't make change, they don't understand logic, have a hard time spelling even trivial words in their infinitesimal vocabulary, etc. Why? Because their parents, your generation, is too busy working two jobs so you can have the mansion, two cars, take a dream vacation every year, etc and you ignore your kids. From the time they're born, they're sent to daycare. Once they go to school, it's up to the school not just to educate them but to focus on their self esteem, hand out birth control to your 11 year old without your knowledge so you don't have to have an awkward talk with them, etc. All of that while you haven't prepared them for school by teaching them to count, know their ABCs or to add and subtract numbers because that would interfere with your "me time."

My parents' generation started the Vietnam war, our protests stopped it and got a President to resign in shame.

Your generation allowed the genocide of 3 million people at the hands of fun guys like Pol Pot when you decided to just cut and run (much like you want to do with Iraq now). Your generation spat in the faces of drafted soldiers who had no choice but to fight when they did finally get home. If your generation was the one that fought Hitler, you would have likely surrendered the day after Pearl Harbor because who gives a crap about alliances and national security anyway... I mean, it's not like we need borders anymore. Let's naturalize the entire world and let them come in without scrutiny or limits.

Your generation gave away the Panama Canal (btw, GWB wasn't the worst President in US history, Carter, that guy your generation elected, was), stood idle while the Shah was overthrown and our embassy overrun in Iran, and trained and funded Osama bin Laden. Your generation ended the Cold War (well, you opposed every step of it but we'll give you credit for being alive and middle-aged anyway).

started an even more senseless war just so he and his oil bud

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[CoonAss56]

Except that we have the balls to post with our names and not as AC. As for a "boot in the face" look in the mirror asshole. You helped elect the Bushies, not me.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

We ... gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else, won the space race...

Which is why the leanders for the civil rights and feminist movements of the 60's and 70's were mostly from the silent generation, right? That's yet another thing that you boomers have given us -revisionist history. Your comment about 'winning the space race' is patently stupid on the face of it. How many boomers were in power in 69?

Exactly.

Fuckwit.

>Now please tell me what your chicken-shit generation have done except sit back on your ass and whine about how shitty every thing is.

OUR generation popularized this little thing called 'open source' -you might have heard of it if you weren't so busy sucking gate's cock like the other boomers do.

Linus Torvalds? One of us.
Theo De Raadt? One of us.
Jordan Hubbard? Ditto.
Gordon Lyon? One of us.

Hell, you think you're on a site run by some fucking boomer? Get the fuck over yourself grandpa. Your race is won -get back to the nursing home and GTFO our internet.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[fprintf]

[blockquote]"My parents' generation started the Vietnam war, our protests stopped it and got a President to resign in shame. Look at what your (cowardly anonymous GP) generation did - RE-ELECTED the worst President in history who started an even more senseless war just so he and his oil buddies could get rich at the expense of his country."[/blockquote]

#1, in case you haven't noticed, voter participation by those under 40 is quite dismal in the United States. So in reality it *is* your generation that re-elected Bushie. You cannot blame something that happened on the generation that happens to be in their 20s - 40s at the time it happened. This country is run by dirty old men mostly of the "peace" generation.

#2, this site is visited by many people from different countries. When you speak of what each generation has accomplished, perhaps you could frame it as your United States point of view.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[houghi]

This generation is working hard to get global warming under control. You know, that what was done by the same people who stopped the Vietnam war or who were anti atomic energy.

You were anti-esteblishement and now you ARE the esteblishment.

You pushed your will through then , you push your will through now. To me that sounds like a bunch of selfish people. And all under the comforting idea that you all did it for somebody else. Sounds like 'think of the children' to me.

The greater good? Don't make me laugh, there was only one greater good and that was yourselves. The difference between you and them is that you took interest in only yourselves and did not even bother to educate your children to care about anything else but themselves.

If you think this generation is a mess, remember who brought them up and blame them.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

You guys didn't do crap, you just showed up and took credit, you guys only stoped nam because you were the ones being drafted. Look at your presidents: Nixon, Carter, Regan, A bunch of boobs who are all the most extreme kind of useless, that gave America what is easily the most vile exploitative time in its history since the outright slavery of the south. Just like your post, you seem to think that youth owe you everything and the achievements of older generations are yours to claim, when the sad truth is, you didn't contribute anything to the greater good without charging 21% interest. At least it seems more and more likely that y'all won't be able to retire and live off the backs of the young much longer, so there.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

You're just bitter because the best rallying cry you can think of is "Give us free entertainment!"

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry... you seem to have confused the accomplishments of Republicans with those of Baby Boomers

And I tell you what... Republicans STILL go out and right wrongs, leaving Democrats to sit there and whine about it (which is why their approval ratings are even worse than President Bush's)

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, what are you whining about? Who raised this chicken-shit generation again?

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[sm62704]

#1, if you don't vote, you are casting your vote as "whatever..." which seems to be the younger generation's motto.

#2 true, but I'm a US citizen living in the US YOU tell ME about your generation (or your kid's or dad's) in YOUR country. How would I know what kids are like in Tierra Del Fuego? And unless you are a Tierra Del Fuegan, how would you know?

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[greyhueofdoubt]

>>The difference between us and you is when we seen something that was wrong we DID something about it!

So, I guess you're saying that you all just stopped doing anything in 1982? Because, if I understand you correctly, my generation doesn't do anything. Your generation does everything. So by your logic, if nothing has happened since 1982, it's because your generation hasn't done anything. Right? Or have you just forgotten what you were doing when YOU were 20-25? I suppose that while I was missing college to be in Iraq during that period, you were inventing the transistor, the digital watch, and pet rocks? Right? Because Your Generation was just so inherently smooth like that. Must have been the radiation from Trinity that turned you all into super-mutant-fantastic-forty-somethings, right? With Dan Rather as your twitchy but lovably poster boy?

Or maybe you're the product of your time, just like I am.

>>We stopped the Vietnam War...

Really? You mean it stopped when you pulled out and the country was overrun by the north vietnamese? You mean when you sort of, you know, lost the war?
Who *Started* the (american involvement in) the vietnam war? Grenada? Both Iraq wars? Surely not you. It must have been all those teenaged Gen-Xers and their Pepsi.

The paradox here is that, by your logic, the boomers did have at least one major foul-up: Me. If you were so great at everything you did, then why did you raise a generation of stupid slackers?
Why did you invent video games in the first place?
Why did you take advertising and consumerism to such morbid extremes?
Why did you not invest in cleaner energy?
Why did you resist so much when mandatory safety devices were introduced in cars?
Why did some boomers shoot other boomers on college campuses?

Urghhh! Cognitive dissonance! It's like brain freeze, but more depressing and/or humbling!

I realize that I'm not involved with your original conflict with OP, but for crying out loud, I'm sick of being a whipping boy for boomers who won't admit that they spent their younger years getting high and trying to have sex all over the place.

We're either your fault or we're not. If you say we're not, then how can you take credit for anything else you claim to have done? I would say that you can't have it both ways, but I see that your politicians have done a great job of doing just that. Fantastic. Yeah, Gen-X sure does suck.

-b

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[Anonymous Coward]

Your generation gave us George W Bush, so I would shut the fuck up.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Yeah, because all the kids these days are Republicans. I mean, just listen to the popular music, it's all about how great GWB is.

OHWAITNO. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the vast majority of the young voters are Democrats (because they don't know any better) and the boomers were the cattle herded into the GWB camp.

But don't blame me, I voted Badnarik.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

You're forgetting that if all you boomers dropped dead there's all that social security money you're stealing from us that can come right back to our pay checks.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[skarphace]

Could it be the Media's-(all staffed by younger folks than me) love affair with all things trivial and not one bit news-worthy be the bane of so-called news? Look at all the talking heads-Ann Coulter ring a bell?

Guess who runs the company.

Our generation may be one of the most informed of all. We have the Internet, we have a born cynicism because of previous generations constantly trying to screw us over. However, we can only wait until boomers finally retire for us to outnumber them in the corporate world. And we'll have to wait until you all die until we can outnumber you in politics and society.

As for the paleolithic 60's in music will any of your fly-by-night wannabe bands ever last as long? Not a snowball's chance in hell. They are retreading the same stuff over and over trying to create something new-here's a news flash-it ain't happening Britney.

Guess who runs the music companies and radio stations?

Our generation has a much better taste in music than TV and radio make it look like. Local and regional music is stronger then ever, everywhere in the world. Musicians are playing because they like it, not just to make an assload of money.

Our generation will most likely do many interesting things if we can get out of the boomer's controlling shadow.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[crotherm]

Nicely done... While not 50 yet, I don't have many years left.

Today's college aged folks are way too distracted by trivial stuff to bother to put together massive protests against Bush & Co. The protests in the 60's had a lot to do with getting out of Vietnam. But where those same protesters failed was in blaming the troops for evils done over seas.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[lgbarker]

And may I say thank you for all of us grateful boomers out there. You better believe that we appreciate it. Have you priced micros lately?

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[c6gunner]

I'll give you some credit for Vietnam

Credit for losing a war? Gee, what a compliment :) Might as well give them credit for acid rain and HIV.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomers would just die

[porcupine8]

I didn't say whether the credit was a good thing or not. Consciously decided not to bother even going into that. *shrug* He seemed to want to take credit for it...

We need Logans Run

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets kill em all at 50 :-)

Re:We need Logans Run

[multisync]

Lets kill em all at 50 :-)

We would have drown you all at birth, but we need someone to serve us our food.

over 50 or over 35

[mrvan]

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

[paedobear]

From the perspective of a typical Daily Telegraph reader, they're all "youngsters", so there's no point in making a distinction.

Re:over 50 or over 35

[ThirdPrize]

WrinklyFaceBook? Shudder!

Re:over 50 or over 35

[sm62704]

Never trust anyone over 30!

Never trust anyone under 31, either.

-mcgrew

Re:over 50 or over 35

[master_p]

And from the perspective of a teenager, they are all over 50...

Re:over 50 or over 35

[davidsyes]

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:over 50 or over 35

[Seumas]

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 at beer parties on myspace and they're shocked that people who were 20 when the web started to really take off are making use of it today at the gray old age of 35 to 54?!

Re:over 50 or over 35

[Lemmy Caution]

I have to disagree. I'm in the 35-50 demographic, and people below 30 seem more open to intergenerational discussion and activities than mine ever did. The internet has eroded a lot of the boundaries between generations, and while generally people are still more comfortable with people of their own age (as am I), I think that this has gotten better over the past couple of generations, rather than worse.

Take a seat, right over there... (nt)

[Anonymous Coward]

nt

The question is

[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:The question is

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:The question is

[rvw]

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

Age bias ...

[foobsr]

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.

Re:Age bias ...

[Anonymous Coward]

and having 'retired from reality' (as someone mentioned here).

Were it shrooms, salvia or an ex-wife? :)

Re:Age bias ...

[Opportunist]

You retired from reality? When did you join Facebook?

Re:Age bias ...

[foobsr]

You retired from reality? When did you join Facebook?

Asking here at this place ???

CC.

oh, dear

[Elise DiPace]

"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:oh, dear

[Anonymous Coward]

But is the mind of a port-swigging retired colonel or a substance-abusing 60-year-old ex-flower child any better than the finely-honed mind of a 22-year-old clean-living high achiever?

I think we should be told.....

Re:oh, dear

[Silver Sloth]

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:oh, dear

[BadAnalogyGuy]

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

[zoomshorts]

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.

Re:oh, dear

[owlnation]

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:oh, dear

[maxume]

It sounds like your undergrad days weren't that exciting. I'm not quite 30 yet, and there's no way I could keep up with younger self(and I've started running since, so I'm actually in better physical condition now...)

Re:oh, dear

[FLEB]

Well, let's see. Which ones have a Myspace account?

Re:oh, dear

[SyscRAsH]

That's life.

Ironic isn't it?

Re:oh, dear

[StormyWeather]

I'm a clean living type guy, but one of the best IT minds I've ever met drank beer by the gallons and took any drug he didn't have to poke himself to get the use out of. I think if we look at history it will clearly show us that most of the most note able in history were stoned a portion of the time on something.

Re:oh, dear

[Nefarious Wheel]

That's life.

(Swings microphone stand) That's what they saaay...you're riding high in April -- shot down in May..

Re:oh, dear

[timeOday]

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.

Re:oh, dear

[sm62704]

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

I was 51 when I wrote this. There are a lot more of them, almost all of the entire series was about drinking (while on Paxil, which causes hallucinations=), bar hopping, rock and roll, and unsucsessfully chasing woman. So cheer up, young fellow!

Ever had an Irish Car Bomb?

-mcgrew

Re:oh, dear

[russotto]

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.)

Re:oh, dear

[russotto]

That is life, what else is there really?

Fast cars, loose women, and fine whiskey.

Re:oh, dear

[BarryJacobsen]

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!

Re:oh, dear

[sm62704]

When you are born, you are more inteolligent than you ever will be for the rest of your life. Your capacity to learn is at its peak. You only get stupider afterwards.

However, you are also completely, 100% ignorant, more ignorant than you will ever be for the rest of your life. Your ignorance is at its peak, you know NOTHING. You only get more experienced afterwards.

-mcgrew

Re:oh, dear

[cayenne8]

"I'm a clean living type guy, but one of the best IT minds I've ever met drank beer by the gallons and took any drug he didn't have to poke himself to get the use out of. I think if we look at history it will clearly show us that most of the most note able in history were stoned a portion of the time on something."

Hehehe...I'm reminded of something I think W.C.Fields once said, "I feel sorry for people that don't drink, when they wake up in the morning, that's the best they're going to feel all day..."

Re:oh, dear

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'm 54 - are still drinking and smoking just as much as we used to in our undergrad days"

Your opinion doesn't count because, if you and your friends have been at "Animal House" for the last 35 years, you are, statistically speaking, either dead or in an institution. Also, if you haven't lost your lefty politics by now, you don't have a brain.

For what it's worth, I'm 53, I've been on Facebook for most of a year, but nothing worthwile is happening there as far as I can tell. Maybe if I had leisure time I would dig around more, but I have to work for a living.

Re:oh, dear

[arkane1234]

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:oh, dear

[Anonymous Coward]

>I'm a unix systems administrator level 2.

How many XP points until you reach level 3?

Re:oh, dear

[Paracelcus]

No, actually (we) are going to physical therapy and calling it the gym. Hanging around the pharmacy waiting area and calling it socializing. Going to the doctor and calling it going for a drive. Being unable to eat anything you like and calling it dieting. Napping, reading, watching TV and reading Slashdot sorta round out the day!

And please forgive me, I have to. What you mean "we" whiteboy?

Re:oh, dear

[phaggood]

> What you mean "we" whiteboy?

I think you mean, "paleface", that is, if your're referencing the Lone Ranger joke.

Re:oh, dear

[couchslug]

"So the over-50's were never drink-addled undergrads?"

We were drink and drug-addled undergrads.
Drugs were not nearly as demonized as they are today, they were affordable, and many colleges partied as hard or harder than they do now. It was fvcking great, and I am surprised that so many people in a generation that had that much fun turned into anal soccer mom/dad fear freaks.

Re:oh, dear

[pluther]

It was fvcking great, and I am surprised that so many people in a generation that had that much fun turned into anal soccer mom/dad fear freaks.

Nah, those people were always like that.

It's really our own fault, for not inviting them to our parties. :)

Re:oh, dear

[Anonymous Coward]

So no kids? You are a unix eunuch, huh? .. I assume.

Who will take care of you in old age, you selfish bastard?

My kids.
I raised 'em while you were partying, or more likely probably grep awk fukinng
And before you say "immigrants", I AM an immigrant, you selfish asshoole...

Say. It's still time. Why not procreate. AND nurture!
In any event, lessee how you feel in your old age...
Report here in 20 years. It's sooner than you think.

Brazil

[glgraca]

Is that Brazilian over-50s or over-50s in general?

My mom's on myspace

[Anonymous Coward]

My mom's on myspace and its really embarrassing. All my friends at school are saying how hot she is and its really disgusting. Can you please e-mail her and tell her to hop off because she's ruining her son's life? thx

Re:My mom's on myspace

[doyoulikeworms]

Oh man your mom is so hot!

Re:My mom's on myspace

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Dude, your mom's hot. Have her email me! We need to hook up. Again.

Re:My mom's on myspace

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Can you please e-mail her and tell her to hop off because she's ruining her son's life? thx

On a slightly more serious note, it's sad how some people seem to think that their parents exist solely for their own benefit. I think most people will at at times be embarrassed by their parents. However one often sees someone basically demanding that their parent change his or her lifestyle to suit their child's insecurities, sense of propriety, feelings, etc, etc. Often the child is a fully fledged adult at the time.

It seems to be a general rule in society that parents must sacrifice themselves on an altar for their children. It seems that becoming anything less than a completely devoted man servant to your offspring is a moral wrong. I'm of the opinion that becoming a parent does not oblige you to devote 100% of your (free) time to your children, and that telling your clinging offspring every now and again to push off because you're busy with your own life, will be a benefit to them in the long run.

All that said, if my parents ever do get a social networking account, I will publicly disown them.

Re:My mom's on myspace

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this modded offtopic? Why punish the poster for pursuing legit humor that relates to the thread and the story? Stupid mods.

Re:My mom's on myspace

[sm62704]

How old is she? Is she single?

Not a welcomed step by younger people

[zukinux]

We do not want their spam in our boxes, hell, I wouldn't even join let's say my uncle as my "friend" in these sites.

Please do not invade our "privacy" (not really privacy though), and stay outside of our home-sites.

The math's not wrong!

[xzaph]

Apparently, the title was just based off the fact that the age range must have been in hexadecimal. Right? Yeah...

no, no, no

[rozz]

actually all the over50 people are there to politely invite their nephews to logout.

"that's enough play for today johnny, come eat some, brush your teeth and go to sleep; damn computers."

Prediction

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the mind of an over-50 is likely superior to that of a drink-addled undergrad I predict a huge thread over this.

34

Re:Prediction

[zoomshorts]

Even IF we are stoned or drunk, WE grew up on what younger people take for granted.
We multitask well. I am currently enjoying retirement, moderating 2 video chat rooms,
Answering email, drinking a brew, posting on Slashdot and instant messageing to 3 people
at this very momment.

Also I am intermittently loading the dishwasher between sentences.

Re:Prediction

[Opportunist]

Also I am intermittently loading the dishwasher between sentences.

Oh. And here I was, thinking you just fell asleep between sentences. My bad, sorry.

Opposite Predator

[Anonymous Coward]

People should pray on the elderly (best done with people slightly older). What you do is you pose as one of them, say you've only just hopped on the internet that your son bought you and ask for help. Over time gain their trust and friendship, and then once they genuinely care about you reveal you're actually a teenager. I did this a couple of years ago and the results were hilarious!

Re:Opposite Predator

[sm62704]

LOL, you young illiterates can pray for us all you want, while us geezers will prey on you illiterate young fools.

mcgrew (55)

A dream come true...

[physicsphairy]

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.

Re:A dream come true...

[Anonymous Coward]

From the silly adolescent jokes you suggest, it is you who has a long way to go to reach parity with us.

Don't flatter yourself into believing that you know more about technology and the Internet then the "elder generation".

Where do you think the technology and the Internet came from? It didn't magically fall out of the sky one day. It came from the work of the "elder generation" in the 60's, 70's and 80's when we were the age you are now.

Re:A dream come true...

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Oh grandpa... Did someone let you out of the home again?

Do we need to tell the nurse that you've been misbehaving again? I know you don't want to be strapped to the bed again. We love you very much, but if you can't behave yourself, we really don't have any choice.

I'll call the nurse. Please stay with me until she comes.

Re:A dream come true...

[DirePickle]

Rrrrrobot house!

Re:A dream come true...

[damaki]

What!? Goatse came from 50+ years old people? Now that's a dirty picture...

Re:A dream come true...

[domatic]

I think that's Lemonparty you were thinking of.....

Re:A dream come true...

[jonbritton]

But apparently the "sense of humor" was invented sometime in the early 90's..

Definitivly confirmed as true.

[HybridJeff]

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.

Re:Definitivly confirmed as true.

[Martian_Kyo]

my mom's on the facebook as well, and couple of her friends (all over 50) the (potentially) strange thing here, is that I am not. I guess 50 year olds are more hip, then before....because if you're 50 now, you were 35 when the Internet became a hit, and 35 is not that old. What I am trying to say is that it's not that people who are older are starting to use Internet, it's more like people who have been using Internet (since it's popularization) are getting older, and yes that means YOU. YOU are getting older.

Re:Definitivly confirmed as true.

[SyscRAsH]

Indeed.

I am 37, and I bought my first PC at the age of 24 back in 1993. At that time, my brother was 37 and he had owned a computer for almost a year at that time. He's now 50. Since then, we've both kept pace with technology. So yeah, it should be no surprise that the 35-50 crowd is "doing more" on the internet. Well duh. We've always been here.

Re:Definitivly confirmed as true.

[OldBaldGuy]

Well, I'm 58 and my son (18) has threatened a facial tattoo if I do join . And my Dad (88) is happy with his new iMac and is setting up iChat so he can do video chat with his buddies. I'm thinking of telling him about Facebook and watching my son go crazy....

Re:Definitivly confirmed as true.

[idontgno]

Well, I'm 58 and my son (18) has threatened a facial tattoo if I do join

What, you're not gonna let him threaten to tattoo you and get away with it, are ya?

Oh. Never mind.

Meh. My 18-YO threatens me with that and I'll laugh into his not-yet-tattooed face. I won't be paying for the tat, and if Mr. Rocket Science wants to inflict that much pain on himself, why not? Stupidity is its own reward.

BTW, I'm not 50 yet. And I decline to join a social network. I've already got a perfectly-good antisocial network going on, thank you.

Re:Definitivly confirmed as true.

[weffey]

I noticed my dad (also 58) jumped on the Facebook bandwagon a few weeks ago (for "geneology purposes only" apparently) ... but he won't confirm me as his daughter. I wonder if he's hinting at something.

Re:Definitivly confirmed as true.

[Nefarious Wheel]

I'm 58 and my kids don't mind. Somehow they skipped the whole embarrased-at-folks thing (proven when they laughed when I threatened to dance in front of their friends as a deterrent). Maybe a whole career in IT let me excrete brain-juice from the thinking gland a little more optimally, and I treated them like people instead of pets from an early age.

Maybe I'm just very lucky. But if the eldest ever gets bored with her WoW 70 druid with epic flight form and moves on to a real game like Vanguard and plays up, she'll get a real public spanking in PvP from her dad. Meh, she's overseas completing a non-IT degree now (the rebel!) so that may not happen for a while.

Point? Age don't mean suck on the Internet. It's a power tool for communicating, doing work that involves information and having fun without worrying about the comb-over. It's nobodys exclusive property, get over it.

Recommendation, or condemnation?

[pla]

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!

Re:Recommendation, or condemnation?

[ttown]

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! ...at least a third, as there might be users with an age between 54 and 84. I totally agree with the stats abuse, irritating to see this type of abuse to bend a story...

Re:Recommendation, or condemnation?

[sm62704]

I have to say, FP author, you've managed to write a summary that insults pretty much everybody! Kudos!

Damn, a trolling flamebait that makes slashdot's front page. He should become a professional troll, like that sweet Ms. Coulter!

-mcgrew (55)

Which of course means....

[ihatewinXP]

Facebook is now dead for anyone who wants to have a semblance of cool.

Just like myspace and friendster before it.

Wise choice dropping 224 million on them, Microsoft - couldve just put something in AARP mailers and saved some money ;)

Re:Which of course means....

[dotgain]

couldve just put something in AARP mailers and saved some money ;)

Apple Address Resolution Protocol or American Association of Retired Persons?
(Unix System Administration Handbook)

Re:Which of course means....

[ben0207]

Thank fuck I'm not the only person who immediately thought the former, not the latter.

Re:Which of course means....

[sarahbau]

Facebook and MySpace were never cool to begin with, "old" people or not.

This is really sweet

[BadAnalogyGuy]

No one can tell me that some 18 year old girl knows how to fuck as well as a well-experienced older lady. Bring those swinging ladies on, man!

Seriously though, older women can fuck the panties off stupid high school girls. And I'd buy that for a fucking dollar!

Re:This is really sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude totally! I found that our from ya moms!!

Re:This is really sweet

[sm62704]

Your 35 year old "experienced old lady" is my hot young sweet thing.

Please don't think I'm bragging, as being a nerd I don't get laid much (and when I do I have to pay for it), but as I somehow managed to live over half a century, miraculously not dying, I've had sex with women from 18 to 50. And I have to say, experience is more than just age. This old diary entry is about the very best sex I ever had in my life; the woman was in her early 20s (as was I).

OTOH I had trouble getting it up for 50 year old Chris, who wasn't worth a shit in bed. Fortunately the most she ever cost was a beer or two. The most expensive I ever had cost me a house, a car, and part of my pension.

The worst thing about being a single 55 year old man is that all the women my age are ugly.

-mcgrew

Re:This is really sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

older women can fuck the panties off stupid high school girls

Having actually lived 50 years, I can report that in my small but personally significant sample this is absolutely true. But I would extend the age range to about 35. They finally figure it out around age 35-40.

Re:This is really sweet

[cayenne8]

"older women can fuck the panties off stupid high school girls

Having actually lived 50 years, I can report that in my small but personally significant sample this is absolutely true. But I would extend the age range to about 35. They finally figure it out around age 35-40."

Whew...then you can have them!! I'm not near 50 yet...but, heading that way. I don't like them any earlier than 30 really, and if you have enough money...you can get younger.

When you get much older, they've had kids...and things stretch out and sag, and that is huge turn-off. I like things to be firm and be where they are supposed to be....

There are some exceptions, but, after they've had kids, that's hard to find these days.....

Great I'm in that demographic now

[MrCopilot]

Just turned 35 and now I'm lumped in with my dad (also on myspace along with my son).

Get off my Lawn!

Re:Great I'm in that demographic now

[BadAnalogyGuy]

That's ok. I'm not yet 35 but am trying to get "lumped in" with your mom. Is she on MySpace?

Facebook?

So now they can deliver the message

[antifoidulus]

"get off my lawn" via a facebook post?

Facebook is dead.

[eniac42]

Welcome to GetOffMyLawnBook.com!

Re:Facebook is dead.

[Xyrus]

"Welcome to GetOffMyLawnBook.com!"

A wholly own subsidiary of the WellBackInMyDay corporation.

~X~

poking and...

[wwmedia]

lol, just because they are over 50 doesn't meant they don't like "poking" people!

Alternate response

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Son?

Yuo Fa1l It

[Anonymous Coward]

come Here but now people already; I'm Hype - BSD's I thought it was my to look into We'll be able to Why not? It's quick accounts for less The Cathedral world. GNAA members mod points and architecture. My chosen, whatever to you by Penisbird and help us! United States. here, but what is However I don't where it was when but now they're There's no play parties the and building is kked to be Kreskin 800 mhz machine said one FreeBSD towels on the floor outreach are Forwards we must [samag.com] in the

Re:Yuo Fa1l It

[CSMatt]

You would think that the trolls would have updated their bot software to point to an actual goatse mirror by now.

Re:Yuo Fa1l It

[BadAnalogyGuy]

mirror

In Korea...

[Anonymous Coward]

...only old people use facebook

Embarressing parents

[wodon]

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:Embarressing parents

[Opportunist]

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.

Re:Embarressing parents

[niktemadur]

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 bit cleverer than you think she is (and she is), you may turn out to be one of the unlucky ones.

Re:Embarressing parents

[Anonymous Coward]

In fact my mother just set up a facebook page

Link, pls.

Re:Embarressing parents

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you missed the debacle a couple of years back, where a young (early teens) kid was caught posting on the WoW forums at wee morning hours by his mother (she read his posts, tagged at something like 2am), and she made a post in the forum about how busted he was.

Re:Embarressing parents

[ettlz]

Dunno about embarrassing messages, but I've run into a few Facebook walls adorned with Lemonparty...

Re:Embarressing parents

[Demerara]

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 minority who plough their own furrows, but it's tiny.

So, I'm not likely to use the sentence:

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

And more likely to say something like: "you poor soak, why don't you stop listening to (enter name of hip young band) and try the original..."

Help A Youth - Expose them to Good Music. That's my motto.

Re:Embarressing parents

[Zoxed]

> 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 !).

Re:Embarressing parents

[isaac]

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 the Beatles during the 60's. Abba outsold everyone in the 70's. Madonna outsold everyone but Michael Jackson in the 80's. The Backstreet Boys outsold everyone in the 90's. The more things change, etc.

Your generation != special.

-Isaac

Re:Embarressing parents

[Lemmy Caution]

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:Embarressing parents

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah right.
Yanni, John Tesh and Garrison Keillor can all fuck off.
Maaaaatlock!

Re:Embarressing parents

[isaac]

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. Sorta like how my parents who grew up when jazz was pop now follow the new generation of jazz artists populating what has become a similar, even smaller niche. So they're hip right? If "hipness" is defined by tastes outside the mainstream, then yes, they're hip - and so is a dork in his basement reading star-trek-meets-harry-potter fan fiction. If "hipness" is defined by having wide-ranging tastes, then no - but indie mom who only likes indie rock doesn't qualify then either. Kids with disposable income and disposable time drive pop music. Corporations cultivate this market. As they grow up, they may acquire more refined tastes - or they may just keep listening to the familiar sounds of their youth on oldies radio. True since the 50's. Still true. True since the 50's. Still true. Apologies to Devo:

1. Be like your ancestors or be different. It doesn't matter.
2. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one.
3. Wear gaudy colors or avoid display. It's all the same.
4. The fittest shall survive yet the unfit may live.
5. We Must Repeat

Re:Embarressing parents

[Lemmy Caution]

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. The culture of the mash-up is interesting in its own right, but it doesn't seem to create the generational energy or identity that music in the past did. Perhaps those past ways of responding to music were blinkered in their own right, but I don't see the same strength of aspiration or sense of moment now that existed in the past.

This is strictly a US-based observation at this point, too: I think that things are different elsewhere. There are a lot of external factors that structure youth cultures, and they may be at play.

What about...

[squidinkcalligraphy]

What about drink-addled over-50 year olds?

Re:What about...

[gammygator]

[quote]What about drink-addled over-50 year olds?[/quote]

Those would be Shriners.

Is this new?

[sltd]

I've seen older people with Facebook all the time - my father's boss, my old Bishop... My Bio 100 teacher has a fan group, but that doesn't count... This is amusing, though, I must say. Absolutely great. Especially at 4 in the morning.

Old people party crazy too

[Goalie_Ca]

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.

Re:Old people party crazy too

[arkane1234]

Wow... I read this and just have to ask... are you *trying* to be sarcastic?
Just curious, otherwise your just being a clueless idiot :)

silver surfers have a greater need

[Chief Wongoller]

Why the surprise? 'Silver Surfers' as the article describes these over 50 internet users, surely have more of a need to make new friends and less traditional opportunities than young people. It's precisly because dad can't 'turn up at the disco', that on-line socializing is more attractive. Over-fifties need to make new friends: as the article points out people lose around half of their social network when they retire. I retired at 50 and can vouch for this. Over-fifties also become widowed and divorced over-fifties are less likely to re-marry, so many end up being 'grumpy old men (and women).

Re:silver surfers have a greater need

[Opportunist]

Well, technically they CAN turn up at the disco...

Re:silver surfers have a greater need

[Eli Gottlieb]

You people have discos where you live? Lucky bastards.

MLDA laws must die horrible deaths, being pecked to death by zombie pigeons.

Over 50 or Below 18?

[crf00]

Facebook Terms and Conditions prohibits user registration of age under 18 Friendster prohibits user registration of age under 16 MySpace prohibits user registration of age under 14 I have seen alot of people including a 5 years old sister of my friend having a profile of age over 50.

Re:Over 50 or Below 18?

[Anonymous Coward]

Good point. As a matter of anonymity, I always set my age to around 110 when asked on the web.

Over 50 or Below 18?

[crf00]

Facebook Terms and Conditions prohibits user registration of age under 18.

Friendster prohibits user registration of age under 16.
MySpace prohibits user registration of age under 14.

I have seen alot of people including a 5 years old sister of my friend having a profile of age over 50.

My Demographic

[hyades1]

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?

Of course not

[Anonymous Coward]

Couldn't afford it, not on a student grant.

(Strangely, now that there are no grants, and students have no income at all (UK, this is), they manage to drink more. Haven't quite understood that one.)

Re:Of course not

[paedobear]

Perhaps they drink to try to forget the crushing burden of loans they'll be saddled with (Loans the boomers never had to face, of course)

Not surprising

[Edgyboy]

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:Not surprising

[Anonymous Coward]

Little Edgy, why haven't you visited my facebook site yet and friended me? I gave birth to you and this is the thanks I get?

-Mom

Re:Not surprising

[Yer Mom]

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...

Perverts!!

[ThirdPrize]

they are all on there chatting to and "grooming" all those young 30 year olds. We should inform the police.

*Social* Networks??

[mrpacmanjel]

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 many more positive posts will outweigh the negative comments I have seen so far otherwise I will have to re-consdider participating in Slashdot.

The funny thing it is *inevitable* *you* will reach this age one day...HaHaHa

Re:*Social* Networks??

[$1uck]

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:*Social* Networks??

[MollyB]

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-absorbed misfits, anyway? </Irony>
BTW, your use of asterisks for stressed words takes me back to the halcyon days of text-only... Bravo!

Re:*Social* Networks??

[edittard]

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

Nope, it's to inventionise new words.

Re:*Social* Networks??

[mrpacmanjel]

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 which makes slashdot so interesting to read and sometimes even educational.

I am going for my afternoon nap now...

Re:*Social* Networks??

[Foolicious]

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.

I love how much credit people give to the Internet. Anyone can/could already take part in "real life". Will other people be so stupid as to exclude them based on *some* of the things you mention above? Sure. But it's not like this is non-existent online -- it just takes longer to come out. The online context only delays and obsfucates who a person really is; the truth will come out eventually when important things come to pass.

Basically, if someone has a certain prejudice, they're not magically going to change because they're online. Thus, the major value of this online context is its...anonymity -- a concept which runs completely contrary to the idea of being "social". If someone thinks being able to more-or-less anonymously post comments online without being subject to the awful rules of real life is some sort of great and meaningful social advancement, I'd say they're sorely mistaken.

Re:*Social* Networks??

[russotto]

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).

Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one welcome our new over 50's overlords.

Holy strawman

[Moderatbastard]

So the over-50's were never drink-addled undergrads?

How do you interpret the excerpt you quoted as even implying that?

If it said that the arm of a shot-putter is likely stronger than that of a newborn infant - an exactly analogous situation - would you come out with some stupid comment that shot-putters can't ever have been children?

Informative my ass.

First of all...

[voss]

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:First of all...

[wodon]

Even scarier is realising that some people on here could have 35 year old parents!
/me dons cardigan and slippers while looking for something to throw at those kids skateboarding on the pavement....

Re:First of all...

[Anonymous Coward]

Since the term was invented in 1964, I think your years are a little off. 1964-1980 is more accurate. Some, including Coupland (who wrote the novel that popularized the term Generation X) would have it start in 1961.

Re:First of all...

[hiryuu]

I can't remember for the life of me where I read it, but one assertion I'd read was that Gen-Xers were those born to Boomer parents and before the "end" of the Vietnam War. Said assertion then stated that the youngest Gen-Xers would have been born in 1975.

Either way, it's a (relatively) pointless definition/label, in my mind. :)

Re:First of all...

[Gilmoure]

Whew! I was born in '67. So glad I missed that Gen X label.

'Boomers!

And they call them:

[mrjb]

MySpace Invaders. Bada-bum!

Re:oh, dear ... don't despair

[Chrisq]

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. It will never have happened.

I use it for business

[gelfling]

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.

It was our party all along

[digitig]

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).

Re:It was our party all along

[Anonymous Coward]

I was using computer-based social networking in 1975. We had a time-shared system with other schools, and you could "socialize" with other kids who used the same "Talk" program. Written by another high school student, that was "our generation's" technology.

Back then, it was boys talking to boys, with the occasional girl-impersonator.

I'm not over 50, but it is definitely NOT a young-person's game that is being invaded by the older generation. Quite the opposite. It was invented before the Myspace generation was even a glimmer in their parent's eye (or pants).

Yeah, I'm a little sick of the youth trying to claim that they invented something, and that we are not welcome. Give me a break!

Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your mom's on facebook!

Juh-heez.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Other news

[ConcreteJungle]

In totally unrelated news, a mass exodus of teenagers who were erstwhile Facebook users begins

Looks around for an exit

[loftwyr]

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.

Can you please tell that to mom too?

[Moraelin]

1. I come from the opposite angle. Mom... well, make no mistake, she loved us sincerely, but... entirely too much, you know? It took some almost violent verbal clashes to get her to just leave me alone and live her own life. That started when I was around 30 years old, and continued for some 5 years, give or take.

As far as I can tell, she's still not over it, but has learned to control herself by now.

Her first conclusion was that someone's obviously manipulating me and my brother against her, when I too started telling her to mind her own business. (My brother had been at it since childhood.) Again, as far as I can tell, she still isn't convinced that that's not the case.

So, trust me, noone really wants 100% of their parents' attention and devotion. And if anyone actually thinks they do, I doubt that they'd be happy with it, if they actually got it. Even the most affectionate lap cat needs some time alone, or it _will_ go neurotic. A human, doubly so.

2. That said, well, humans

A) judge each other all the time, so big freakin' surprise that they judge their parents/children too.

B) are judged by the company they keep, or the company they drag you into, all the time. And parents, well, are a company you can't easily change.

Being annoyed by some of your kids' or parents' habits doesn't necessarily mean you want them as a manservant or anything. When you can look at your kids (and/or co-workers, friends, etc) and say that you truly don't care what they do, it's all their choice how they want to live your life, have your full support in anything whatsoever... well, then you'll have earned the right to ask the same in return. Until then, nope. If you've ever thought you're so embarassed of something your son did in front of the guests, then he too has a right to feel embarassed by something _you_ did in front of _his_ friends.

Myspace is like....

[Henry Pate]

Brian Laptop: myspace is like the vegas of the internet.... a lot of people want to go but no one wants to admit what happens when they're there
from bash

Get the hell off my lawn!

[sm62704]

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, originally hosted by my ISP before registering the domain. I ran a FPS gaming site from late that year for a few more years, and got on MySpace in 2004 IIRC, although I don't go there much. I've spent most of my "social networking on the intarwebs" at nerd sites.

And it annoys the hell out of me to get junk mail from the AARP. I'm not retired, damn it, I'm only 55!

On another NEWsworthy note, somebody found a new continent. Sheesh, these kids today...

mcgrew

I'm not surprised...

[LuisAnaya]

They have the time, they're wealthier than previous generations and more aware of technology. My aunt has a Facebook page that she keep tabs of my cousin, her grandsons and granddaughters, grandnieces, grandnephews and of course nephews and nieces (my sister and I). Being that we're all geographically disperse (Puerto Rico, New Jersey, Germany), it makes it convenient for her to have a centralized location for her to be aware on what's going on with her family. I've been very surprised that many of the people I'm getting connected in facebook have been old acquaintances from grammar and high school. I would not be surprised if the same motivates older generations to use social networking sites. My 2 cents.

Mod parent brutal

[elrous0]

As I 36 year old, this article makes me feel really old.

IIRC...

[Mateo_LeFou]

35 is greater than 50, in Microsoft Excel.

what about all the girls

[Elsapotk421]

Who put 99 as their age? does it count this in the numbers?

You kids today...

[sm62704]

Don't know the difference between a flame and a troll.

Pathos. Full of pathos.

-mcgrew (55)

Speaking as a member of the 35 - 54 demographic

[StressGuy]

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.

Surveillance...

[bevoblake]

My boss opened a MySpace account largely because he wanted to keep an eye on what his high-school-aged kids were up to online. First thing he saw on his son's page was a blowout party the son had at their house the weekend before while the parents were away. As the son never understood the MySpace blunder, he thinks his father is the all seeing eye. Anyway, just one example of a 35-54 getting sucked in due to parenting.

Re:over 68!

[Chapter80]

It seems like 69 year olds have had profiles on MySpace since the second day it was live!

I take issue with that statement

[Anonymous Coward]

I dearly have to say that I take issue with that statement. "Because the mind of an over-50 is likely superior to that of a drink-addled undergrad"? WTF? The mind of a 50+ is superior to that of a 20-something college student (drink-addled or not)? I'm not saying that the minds of many 50+'ers are not sharper than some drunk-ass sorostitute or some frat jock that is perpetually recovering from the night before, but this is a broad and sweeping statement that demonstrates the lack of faith in youth that this country has. We're labeled as being in general irresponsible, ignorant of the ways of the world, and as a whole unable to forsee the consequences of our actions. This is bull. Frankly, I believe our generation has (for our age(s)) has become more informationally aware than generations that came before and the ones we are currently coexisting with in this day and age. Not to say those generations aren't to be thanked for getting us this far, I mean heck the Internet would not be here today if it weren't for a significant portion of the interligentsia in that 50+ generation(s). The point is, our generation is the one that has mastered it, and we are the one's that understand it. It has helped us come further in a shorter amount of time than the generations that preceeded us could have ever hoped for. We are a generation that _DOES_ understand consequences of our actions far better than any of our predecessors. After all, they were the ones that taught us, by demonstrating fully how bad things can get when you do not anticipate the consequences of the actions you undertake. Debasing us with comments such as this is unwarranted and robs us of any recognition of how far we've come and how much more quickly we have been able to do it.

Re:I take issue with that statement

[Anonymous Coward]

Slow down there tiger. I think the statement refers more to the wisdom of over-50s, not the pure brainpower. In other words, who is more likely to do really stupid shit and make dumb life mistakes.
ps. stay off my lawn

Moms on Facebook

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not 50 quite yet, but joined FaceBook as an alum through my grad school (yes, many people over thirty are in grad school!) mostly to see what all the fuss was about. I "friended" our college age daughters, who might have cleaned some things up before responding - I don't know. I was surprised when their friends felt snubbed when I did not friend them. (I thought that would be kind of creepy, but I guess not since I am a "Mom" figure.) So, now I have a small circle of "friends" who are mostly relatives, friends of our daughters and other young 20's who are like family to us, i.e., people I already know who want to stay in touch. They seem to like seeing group pictures of family events where they are "tagged". We like to know what's going on with them and they don't have to repeat themselves as often. As teenagers, I think having me there would have freaked them out.

As someone else commented, most of the other applications are not that interesting, and I don't spend a lot of time updating and checking it.

Recently, looking at fellow alums from my undergraduate days, I have to concur that I have seen more people my age joining. Some are just dabbling, like me; another belongs to what appears to be a well-established Christian group. So, there you have it; perhaps soon Facebook will be full of boring over-thirty people.

To see friends pages

[JoeCommodore]

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.

my mother

[Presto Vivace]

My mother used to say that by the time your kids are old enough not to embarrass you, you embarrass them.

oblig hot fuzz reference

[poached]

...gave women and minorities the same rights as everyone else, won the space race, gave you the ability to even post your snarky comments due to the fact that we pushed technology forward. These are just a few of the many things we have contributed to the greater good the greater good

Facebook's domain restrictions work

[peter303]

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.

Cool! A Minnie Driver/Anne Hathaway love scene.

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

"Youth is wasted on the young", in case nobody was paying attention. Oh, the places I'd have buried my face if I could go back to my high school or college years...

over 30 = brain damaged

[Anonymous Coward]

"Because the mind of an over-50 is likely superior to that of a drink-addled undergrad"

Didn't this slashdot article linking lead poisoning to crime suggest that everyone born prior to the mid 1970s is brain damaged? (The implications of this are enormous.)

Over-90s Invade the Social Networking Scene!

[4D6963]

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?

50 on myspace

[teasea]

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 daughter gets.)

Built-in Parental Control

[ashitaka]

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 logged on to either for months. (And no, they don't know my Slashdot id.)

Get off my LAN, you punk kids....

[billstewart]

We'd deliver the message by Usenet,
but as Yogi Berra said, "Nobody goes there anymore - it's too crowded."

Blatantly Offensive

[Anonymous Coward]

This article and the comments posted as a result show an interesting trend in prejudices in our society. I thought we were a society that praised youth.. And yet contained is a descriptive account of blatant disrespect and hideous prejudice to our younger generations. I think it is largely irresponsible to expect unbiasedness and democratic egalitarianism in a society that is so contradicted over something as simple as youth.

I have to say that, as a young person finishing up my years at university, I am saddened to see the embitterment that the older generation seems to wear on their sleeves. I have seen far more hope in remedying the ills of our society in youth, than I have in most worn-down 50 year olds.

Cheers,

Jail bait?

[Anonymous Coward]

I doubt that a busy adult with a family would actively use myspace or facebook. Whether we openly admit or not, most of us are using these sites to hook up or make new friends.

We've Always Been There

[hwyguy2]

[Well, I think I'm close enough at 47. My wife is 50]

Hint: We've always been there. I've been on LJ for over 3 years now, and MySpace as well (although the latter just points to LJ).

*slow clap*

[alfs boner]

Hear, hear.

Baby Boomers really know how to stay past their welcome, that's for sure. But I think we're about to be treated to a glorious baby-boomer cancer epidemic brought on by their own selfish goal to outlive their children. ^_^

Outdated statistics, maybe? No?

[WebGangsta]

Browsing through ComScore's website for the study that's quoted in the article, I found this study from October 2006. 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 the numbers of older people using social networking sites haven't changed in the last 12+ months.

Which is the more likely case?

China tried that.

[agent]

It was part of the "Great Leap Forward".

This thread should be taged with "lemonparty", not the /. Birthday thread.
http://www.lemonparty.org/

Now you've given them ideas, you bastard!

[spun]

How about her picture blog with your baby Polaroids, including the full frontal nudity ones in the backyard Toys-R-Us inflatable swimming pool? Thank God my mom doesn't read slashdot...

I'm tired

[markov_chain]

of the older generation complaining about the spoiled youth. Guess who raised the spoiled youth? Yep, that's right.

It seems that a dose of hard times does wonders for a populations attitude in life. I keep thinking back to my grandparents' generation and what hard-working no-nonsense people they were, unlike my parents and their protesting of this chicken-shit war or another. No wonder today's generation is so good at whining. You just wait until your country gets invaded and then you'll see how quick you gain back the respect for science and engineering.

Yeah, about those Republicans

[markov_chain]

Today's Republicans should be ashamed to call themselves such. I thought the GOP was supposed to be conservative, as in conserving the constitutionalist principles, not this bunch of fascist marionettes we have today (in both major parties).

Well...

[shivamib]

Anarchy is like, bogus, man.

Re:I wish the Baby Boomer's woul'd just di'e

[aqk]

>>the Baby Boomers would just die.

>>anything that the Baby Boomer's ...

I am just puzzled why you sometime's employ an apostrophe, and some sometimes not...
Any particular reason? Perhaps a babybummer could help you.
Ala's, excitable chappie, I am just looking for answer's in life.... ;-)