Facebook users ages 55 and up may be slower to adopt social media, but they are gradually becoming a strong demographic in this space. First they became one of the most rapidly growing age groups to use sites like Facebook, as reported by eMarketer. Now they’re starting to show an interest in connecting with brands via social networks, with greater numbers “liking” brands on Facebook.
Research from Wedbush Securities shows the breakdown of users who “like” brands on Facebook, by age group:
- only 24% of users 55+ had “liked” a brand on Facebook by September 2010 (vs. 60% of those 18-34)
- by April 2011, 43% of users age 55+ had “liked” a brand (vs. 66% of those 18-34)
- all other age groups saw in increase in “likes” over this time period, but ages 55+ were the fastest growing group, with a rise of nearly 20 percentage points
- as of April, 59% of adult Facebook users had “liked” a brand, up from 47% in September 2010, a rise that eMarketer credits largely to the increase among the 55+ demographic
