Boomers flood Facebook

If you want to reach consumers under 50, try Twitter. If you are looking for the over 55 crowd, Facebook is the place to go.

iStrategyLabs analyzed demographics from Facebook's social ads platforms and found that fewer than 1 million users ages 55 and older used Facebook in January 2009. As of July 4 , more than 5.8 million Facebook users were 55 and older. The survey also found that younger users--high school and college students--dropped off Facebook 16.5 percent and 22 percent respectively.

"There have been rumors that these younger user groups are being alienated by their parents joining the service, and this data seems to prove it," iStrategyLabs CEO Peter Corbett said in a statement reported by eWeek.com.

Speaking from my own experience, my own children are so appalled that I use Facebook that they refuse to "friend" me. The latest predictions about Facebook's future came from Netscape browser pioneer Marc Andreessen, who said he expected Facebook to make $500 million in sales this year. In five years, he predicted it would be bringing in billions.

So for the IT executive thinking about ways to get out the word out on a product or talk directly to the customer, Facebook may well be the way to go.

For more on Facebook:
- check out this eWeek.com article

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