Skip to main content

Facebook Grows with Age Diverse Members

comScore released the results of a study on the member visits to Facebook.com, which showed the site grew to 26.6 million unique visitors in the U.S. in May 2007, marking an 89 percent increase versus the same month last year.

The dramatic growth comes on the heels of the decision in September 2006 to open up Facebook registration to the general public -- a change from the previous policy requiring a valid email address from a university or a selected group of other schools and businesses. In the months prior to allowing open registration, the Facebook.com traffic hovered at approximately 14 million visitors per month.

Meanwhile, the number of pages of content viewed at Facebook.com in May 2007 increased to 15.8 billion, up 143 percent versus May 2006. Visitors averaged 186 minutes at the site in May 2007, which marked a 35 percent increase versus the same month last year. Interestingly, engagement levels peaked in February 2007 at 200 minutes per visitor, then leveled off slightly as the influx of new visitors (who tend to begin as lighter users) tempered the average.

Once a social networking haven for college students, Facebook's decision to open registration has helped attract new visitors from outside the 18-24 year old age segment. In fact, the 38 percent increase among 18-24 year olds was the lowest rate of growth of the age segments represented in the study. The most dramatic growth occurred among 25-34 year olds (up 181 percent), while 12-17 year olds grew 149 percent and those age 35 and older grew 98 percent.

"Given its roots as a college networking site, Facebook has historically shown very strong skews toward the 18-24 year old age segment," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix.

"However, since the decision to open registration to everyone, the site has seen visitors from all age groups flood the site. As the overall visitation to Facebook continues to grow, the demographic composition of the site will likely more closely resemble that of the total Internet audience."

I have clients that showed an interest in building a market development strategy that utilizes word-of-mouth engagement on MySpace, and I have recommended Facebook instead. Granted, if a marketer is in the media or entertainment space, then MySpace may be a better fit for a campaign. Otherwise, the Facebook platform has virtually no ad clutter -- compared to MySpace -- and that's a major benefit.

Popular posts from this blog

Open Banking Usage to Grow by 470 Percent

The Open Banking business model has been advantageous for Third-Party Providers (TPPs), helping them to extend their offerings into other areas of financial services with new capabilities. Open Banking is also advantageous for traditional banking institutions, despite the perceived loss of custodianship over their data, by providing greater accessibility to more bank services. Furthermore, Open Banking can help serve Mobile Internet providers that are able to leverage it to create tailored services according to customers’ preferences and/or economic limitations. Open Banking Market Development Since traditional banking services are made more convenient by TPPs via greater data access, customers can proactively manage their finances and shape the development of new financial offerings. This is particularly noticeable in the realm of Digital Payments, where retail merchants and customers transact through eCommerce, which has the greatest number of use cases for Open Banking. These includ

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year