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

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.

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: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!

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?

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: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.