It’s obvious that there is an “age divide” in world of Social Media.

The widespread use of SM is by millennials is off the charts. If you know a teen or college student who does not use Facebook, you have found the exception to the rule. Young people are on Facebook to an extent they need not use email or even the voice feature of their cell phone. Those with smartphones use voice features even less. Home phones, landlines, plain old telephones service; they may have used them at their grandparents house.

But how about the over 50 crowd? The latest numbers from Pew Research have just been released.

• 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.

10% of those internet users 50-64 are now registered with Twitter and the ranks are growing fast.  Email still remains the most comfortable social space for Boomers and above.

Reasons for Boomers and Senior are moving to SM now:

Multigenerational Connect: this IS where your kids and grand kids are! Multimedia platforms, business info, and news completes the rationale.

Reconnect: The older you get the more likely you may want to connect to people from your past.

Medical & Aging: Coming down with a chronic medical condition makes older internet users more inclined to reach out for info and move beyond SM resistance.

So what is keeping Boomers and Seniors off Social Media:

Time: Crunched 50 plus business people are also the sandwich generation; take care of mom/dad, work, visit the kids in college, and maybe baby sit the grand kids. Who has the time Facebook updates, LinkedIn, or Tweets. And who has time to configure Smartphone apps or know if an Android beats an iPhone.

Privacy: Many Boomers grew up distrusting the “man”, so who wants to give the  government and corporate America even more info and data. Geo-location services (like Foursquare and Gowalla) are just weird to people who attended Woodstock.

2.0: Software companies and leading SM sites do change regularly; when you are time constricted you may not feel like getting acquainted with updated platform changes and new settings.

Technology: Many Boomers and Seniors are hitting the limit on new gadgets and new tech. They are used to keeping electronics for more than a year. Smartphone sales are skewing to younger buyers; SM via mobile is a major driver of the segment.

Passwords: I hear the P word frustration regularly. Secure passwords are OK with your banking and bills. Some Boomers and Seniors distrust browser stored solutions and do not want to hand over their “security key’ to the likes of all these new social networks. Business is business and SM does not look quite like the businesses of finance or e-commerce.

As the medium matures the age divide will indeed narrow. Social Media is not really only social; it’s mostly about data, business, networking, marketing, etc. 

So then why is it so creepy to have your parents “Friend” you on Facebook.

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