Middle-aged learning to love social networking sites

The phenomenon has "begun to mature", Ofcom has found, with the number of 35 to 54-year-olds accessing such sites jumping by 25 per cent in the last year alone.

But there are hints that as the sites are being adopted by middle-aged parents, they are no longer considered cool by their children who are starting to lose interest.

Ofcom found a fall of almost 10 per cent in the number of 15 to 24-year-olds logging on to social networking sites from the internet at home.

The findings are published in Ofcom's Communications Market Report 2009.

Its authors commented: "As the social networking phenomenon has begun to mature, it has started to develop in a different way.

"In particular, social networking appears to be growing more popular among older age group."
They continued: "Conversely, there are signs that use of social networking sites may already have peaked among younger adults."

Among those aged 35 to 54, the proportion logging on between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 rose from 28 to 35 per cent – an increase of seven percentage points. That equates to a 25 per cent rise in absolute numbers.

There was also a rise in the proportion of 25 to 34 year-olds using social networking sites, up from 40 to 46 per cent.

However, among those aged 15 to 24, the proportion fell from 55 to 50 per cent – a drop of five percentage points, or almost 10 per cent in real terms.

Their research did not delve into why young people might not be bothering with the sites anymore.

Paul Lee, director of technology research at Deloitte, thought they might be moving on precisely because their parents were starting to colonise this corner of the internet.

He said: "Young people are saying, 'Now that Mum and Dad are on Facebook, do I really want to be there?' "

He added: "Young people have probably found a new form of communication, but we don't know what it is yet."

Interestingly, Ofcom's research found that social networking sites aimed at older audiences appear to have performed better over the last year than those hoping to attract younger eyeballs. The biggest risers were Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook saw its British audience grow by 73 per cent to 19 million people – almost a third of the total population.

It has always had a slightly older and more sophisticated profile than the average social networking site, having begun life as a networking site for Harvard University students.

The growth of Twitter, which allows users to post short messages for followers to see on the internet, was even more impressive.

The site – which boasts Stephen Fry, 51, John Cleese, 69, and President Obama, 48, among what has been termed the 'Twitterati' – saw its British audience grow from 100,000 to 2.6 million.

LinkedIn, which enables users to post their CVs online and create a professional network based on real-life relationships, grew by 63 per cent.

Meanwhile, Bebo, aimed at teens, has shed 17 per cent of its UK audience in the last year. MySpace, another youth site, only put on a modest five per cent.