Communications will never be the same. The question is what will be significantly different?
We all know that social media use has grown dramatically among younger age groups. However, older users have been especially active during the past year embracing the new networking tools. Social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010, according to the latest report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project.
Between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among internet users ages 50‐64 grew by 88%–from 25% to 47%. During the same period, use among those ages 65 and older grew 100%–from 13% to 26%. By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13%—from 76% to 86%.
The study poses challenges to automotive marketing and communications departments, which historically have relied on mass market advertising and specialist, highly pampered automotive media – some of whom don’t even own a car, relying on car company handouts instead – to raise awareness and purchase consideration of new vehicles, as well as bolster company reputations. Now, word of mouth via e-mails and electronic posts can praise or pan a new or old model – and trash a company – outside of the once considerable influence of auto companies with traditional media.
“Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of social media, but their growth pales in comparison with recent gains made by older users,” explains Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist at Pew.
“Email is still the primary way that older users maintain contact with friends, families and colleagues, but many older users now rely on social network platforms to help manage their daily communications,” Madden said.
In the latest study, one in five (20%) online adults ages 50‐64 say they use social networking sites on a typical day, up from 10% one year ago. Among adults ages 65 and older, 13% log on to social networking sites on a typical day, compared with just 4% who did so in 2009.
Concurrently, the use of status update services like Twitter has also grown—particularly among those ages 50-64. One in ten internet users ages 50 and older now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others.
Just 5% of users ages 50‐64 had used Twitter or another status update service in 2009, and 11% now say they use these tools. On a typical day, 6% of online adults ages 50‐64 make Twitter a part of their routine, up from the 1% who did so in 2009.
“Social media has the potential to bridge generational gaps. There are few other spaces—online or offline—where tweens, teens, sandwich generation members, grandparents, friends and neighbors regularly intersect and communicate across the same network,” observed Madden.
The study raises questions about when or if the groups will converge in usage rates.
“We typically don’t make specific projections about future growth, but I would say that there is still great potential for more adoption across the 50+ age group,” Madden told me.
“One of the most powerful selling points for engaging with social media is your peers and their desire to stay connected with you through these channels – think, “X invited you to join Facebook”—so as more older adults join, there will necessarily be a ripple effect that has the potential to last for some time,” she said.
“However, it’s important to keep in mind that for the oldest group of adults (ages 65 and older), just 42% use the internet. So the first hurdle for that group is simply getting them online,” she concluded.
The findings come from a nationwide telephone survey of 2,252 American adults (including 744 interviewed on cell phones) conducted between April 29 and May 30, 2010. The margin of error is two percentage points for the total sample and three percentage points for results based on internet users (n=1,756).