Seniors and social media, according to Elvis

What do think . . . is social media just for the young? Well, according to our stats, seniors are more active than ever. Take a look at the age demographics on one of our popular Facebook pages.

 

Ages of Facebook users:
13-17=.80%
18-24=8%
25-34=13%
35-44=15%
45-54=17%
55+=23%

That means 40% of our audience is over 45 (not exactly senior citizens but pretty close in the technology world). Why is this the case? Are older users more inclined to follow cultural organizations? Do they have more time to devote to such activities? Or, is it more about the the topic of conservation?

We'll argue that it may be all of these, but my inclination is to suggest that the latter is the biggest contributing factor. This particular Facebook page is all about Elvis, a complement to the traveling exhibition Elvis at 21, Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer, and everyday is something new about the rock-n-roll legend--trivia, curatorial insight, photographic history, videos, etc.

Not that Elvis doesn't have a younger following. Indeed, some of the most rabid fans are under 25, but those who are most engaged on our Facebook page fall into the more mature crowd; they are the folks who listened to Elvis as a kid or sat in the front row at one of his concerts. They are the ones who know Elvis inside and out; in fact, these fans have taught us a thing or two on more than one occasion.

Switching fields a bit, we also have a Twitter account for the exhibition @elvisat21, but this platform doesn't seem to attract the same number of older followers. When we've mentioned the Twitter page to our Facebook fans, the usual response is "Oh, I'm not on Twitter," or "I don't really know how to do Twitter." Even when we baited the platform with free Elvis giveaways or trivia contests, the leap never occurred. Most of our mature Facebook users were happy to stay put, even if it meant missing out on some rare exhibition-related freebies.

The exhibition continues its national tour through 2013, and the Facebook/Twitter accounts will be there along the way, so the final verdict is still out, but it's certainly interesting to see how the social media world is embracing (or not) a new audience.

 

Comments

[Lenny Schertz]

Thanks for sharing this information. This is a good reference in Seniors and social media, according to Elvis, but would you please describe, how do you do your study regarding this article?

[Facebook]

The world is technology. This particular Facebook page is all about Elvis, so social media is not just for the young. Because, it is for everyone.

[Adrian]

The world of the youths is filled with fantasies; implying that there are many things they can talk about unlike the old people. Since the old people are very much exposed to a lot of things and even technology, it does not seem to be new to them to always sit in front of a computer. May be that is why the audience of age over 40 does not frequent face book though a certain percentage of those with 55years and above are a little bit free.