Comments on: is Facebook for old people?

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 01:08:29 +0000

I agree with Suzana about the technology gap in social groups. When cell/mobile devices have bigger screens keyboards is when kids will use these websites more. Texting is where it’s at for kids these days. A lot of kids think twitter is used by vain old people.

By: Dirk

Dirk — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:38:58 +0000

Before I read this post, I never spend any time thinking about wether facebook or any other social bookmark service is for old people or not.

Here in Germany facebook currently becomes more and more popular. But the major social bookmark service is MisterWong. There you can find a multicultural, multisocial mixture of users across all ages.

By: Chrissy

Chrissy — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:02:12 +0000

I’m really interested in your last comment: “I strongly believe that the healthiest environment we can create online is one where teens and trusted adults interact seamlessly.”

While my intellectual side says that I agree, on the other hand, as a teenager, I disagree. I think that having a space where I can experiment with identities, present a constructed performance of myself, and have pictures tagged of me that I don’t want my mom or youth pastor to see…is also healthy. I think that adults too often think about others actions in a static, judgemental way…and do not leave room for a fluidity of experimentation, learning from mistakes, and being young. I feel like my grandma commenting on my facebook pictures is embarrassing, and now that old people are learning more and more about facebook, they can see through my attempts at setting privacy limitations against them.

i don’t like listening to adults converse about facebook, though i’m not exactly sure why.

i really appreciate all of your extensive work on the sociology of the internet. I have been reading your work since I stumbled upon your sight a few years ago through your ani lyrics site…which, by the way, changed the course of my life. (i read ani’s lyrics/poetry on your site before i ever knew who she was or that she sang them into songs)

By: canli tv izle

canli tv izle — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:51:39 +0000

Facebook is much more formal than MySpace, so it’s not a surprise that older people or younger people are moving.

By: frank fr

frank fr — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:02:45 +0000

Quite interesting to think about social backgrounds. Here in Brazil orkut is popular among all groups (no matter the age or demographic background), while facebook is starting to get popular especially among “cool” adults. We are still in a different phase, I guess. Not sure if everyone will migrate to facebook. The main question my students pose me is “what’s the point of migrating to facebook, if all my contacts are still on orkut?”

What about twitter? In Brazil it’s becoming popular, but for the time being, it’s still more used by upper class adults.

And, of course, you can’t deny the fact that there’s a huge gap between social groups over here…

By: frank fr

frank fr — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:57:43 +0000

What about twitter? In Brazil it’s becoming popular, but for the time being, it’s still more used by upper class adults.

And, of course, you can’t deny the fact that there’s a huge gap between social groups over here…

By: Janice

Janice — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:25:30 +0000

Why would someone say this was for older people?

By: Seb

Seb — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:11:06 +0000

Whoops, your blog eats links.

http://openresearch.sebpaquet.net/2009/06/what-google-really-thinks-about-social.html

By: Seb

Seb — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:13:10 +0000

Google Suggest agrees with Kaitlyn.

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:45:21 +0000

I haven’t logged into my MySpace account since before i got married in September, and even by that point I was only logging in at most once every other month (i had turned on a vacation setting that blocks incoming messages over a year and a half ago). About once a quarter or less i check my profile to skim comments on my wall. I do find MySpace to be immature and notice that the only people I know who still prefer MySpace are those under 18. (With overlap between mature teenagers and young adults who refuse to grow up). I find MySpace obnoxious and annoying, but i just don’t want to delete the accounts.

I wouldn’t really call Facebook mature though, with all the silly applications, games, and quizzes, but i feel it offers a lot more and the norm isn’t overloads of blinking colors and netspeak. The most appealing thing about Facebook is probably the inability to “pimp” your profile. I do like to express my style, but so many people have bad taste it’s better left blue and white. ^__^

I’m 24 and my friends on Facebook range from 16 to 51 (my mom), and 98% of them i know (definiton of “know” is flexible: see regularly to have met once) offline. I refrain from saying “in real life” because it’s a pet peeve of mine when people treat websites as if they are a fantasy world. It’s just a digtized version of life. With technology, you have more abilities (like in sci-fi movies) but it’s still real life. So while some people look down upon spending too much time on FB, i see it as hanging out with people i don’t normally get to see as much anymore (from moving and life changes, etc).

I digress, but in short, i agree with the results