Facebook is Getting Old

[This was originally published on Examiner.com.]

Check out these stats from research firm Hitwise:

• Since May, the market share of visits to Facebook increased 22 percent.
• The number of users age 18 to 24 was about 39 percent last year—now it’s only 19 percent.
• Facebook visitors ages 25 to 44 account for more than half of Facebook visitors.

In March, the number of Facebook users over 35 doubled in 60 days, as reported in the blog ReadWriteWeb.

Bill Tancer of Hitwise writes: “Where are younger Internet users flocking to today?”

Maybe they aren’t going anywhere; the party is just getting larger. The most recent data I found from February reports that 18- to 25-year-olds accounted for about 19.3 million Facebook users, according to the blog Inside Facebook. In September 2008, the same site reports the number as about 17.1 million. So, that is two million new people.

Basically, younger users aren’t going anywhere, but they are growing at a slower rate than everyone else. Whether they ultimately decide that they need a cooler hangout than Grandma’s house is yet to be seen.