We have begun to make it a habit of looking to teenagers as the harbingers of all things cool, especially online. Snapchat just nixed a $3 billion offer from Facebook in light of its growing popularity, largely due to its favor with the teen set. Another, and by now more familiar photo-sharing platform, Instagram, came to prominence in much the same way.
It would throw you for quite a loop if we told you that the fastest-growing demographic on Twitter is actually 55-64 year-olds. According to Business Insider, this age bracket has been adopting social media at break-neck speed, growing by 79 percent in the past year alone. In addition, 45-54 year-olds are taking to Facebook and Google+ in droves. For that age group, Facebook has become 46 percent more popular and Google+ has seen gains of 56 percent.
This inevitably means a change in how marketers interact with people online. Next time you’re crafting up that tweet or ad, you’ll have to consider a change of target– one that includes older users into the mix.
Source: Business Insider
