Social Networks. Age is definitely more than just a number.
Februar 28th, 2010 • Reports, Social
First of all follow Pingdom on twitter. Seriously.
Secondly, it is not common for me to quote the research results of one thinktank for the second time in two days. Here I will make an exception. Simply because Pingdom respects the golden rule of being quoted on the social webs in perfect harmony with the four key elements of social nerd buzz:
- do the research/poll/well argumented guess about Planet Earth
- follow up with number crunching (if there are numbers)
- draw a great looking diagram
- tweet the hell out of it
Today we talk about age distribution and social networks. It’s neither a secret nor surprising that there is an age gap between LinkedIn and Twitter. But as long as you don’t nail down this fact into a diagram you don’t make a point on the intertubes. Right? Right.
Here we go…
Fact: Age distribution in social networks varies among social networks
High five! We are number one. If you are a 36 year old tech savvy, male, digital nerd the following diagram enlightens you with one key information – you will meet the ones you like (and who are like you) over and over again. Your mom probably isn’t yet a registered member of Facebook and your teenage cousin probably isn’t as well. But be prepared for the next generation to be 150% part of the game. Unfortunately they are not really relevant yet marketing wise (but they will follow….muahahahahahahahahahahahaha).
Fact: There is no such as thing as the platform
Sure, we all love our little habits. We think everybody’s on twitter simply because we are, we think everybody’s on Facebook simply because we are. This, in fact, is not the case. If you talk to a target group 55+ the chance to find them is almost twice as high on Classmates than on Facebook.
Insight: On the web Age ain’t nothing but a number is freaking important
Pingdom’s numbers aren’t completely new. And they aren’t even very explanatory for the 88% of the world which is not American (same old problem over and over again). But they are extremely visual (we like). Yes, you will meet most of your target group on Facebook if you sell Nike Sneakers, no you won’t meet your target group on Facebook if you sell stuff to Silver Surfers.
Creativity-wise – I am afraid we all have to think for ourselves – especially when it comes to marketing activities beyond the brands we all love to work for. Sorry, Aaliyah, Age definitely is far more hat just a number…at least as long as we are talking about social. Age is decisive related for all marketing-driven ideas on Planet ‘We need a Facebook Fan Page. Now’.
And yes, you are absolutely right. A platform is not an idea. But the platform technologically determines which ideas may work well finally and which won’t. The new widget you thought about may not work simply your target group is too old. And no, you may not be able to talk to your young audience via twitter. And as long as we talk about delicious as a social network it might be pleasant if somebody came up with an idea on how to use it to sell stuff. Simply because it’s relevant.
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