Are ageing users of some popular social networks their doom?

Hi all - years have passed and we have seen the birth and death of many online social networks. I have no theory as to whether ageing users is one of the factors that contribute to their decline but would love to hear if anybody has!

Tags: facebook, myspace, network, online, social

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Permalink Reply by Buddy 'Friendly' Wachenheimer on December 1, 2008 at 7:33am

There are many reasons social networks have problems. http://www.adgabber.com/forum/topics/546804:Topic:75426
I seriously doubt that age, or ageism is one of them.

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Permalink Reply by Sandy on December 1, 2008 at 7:49am

Thanks Buddy, interesting thread. I've finished reading page 2 of the comments, 22 more to go! :)

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Permalink Reply by Buddy 'Friendly' Wachenheimer on December 1, 2008 at 7:52am

BTW, aging is usually our doom

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Permalink Reply by Yatin on December 1, 2008 at 7:45am

It is an intersting thought. Though a scary one.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Knorpp on December 8, 2008 at 5:07pm

I would say "popularity" is a make or break thing, irregardless of the age of users. Some things get past the hump of popularity and continue to deliver (TV for instance), while others lose their cool factor and are relegated to the dust (like AOL).

I would look more toward which properties can withstand the influx of mass-market users and still remain relevant to our lives. For instance, Facebook is very cool right now and I love it, but it's still way too complicated for new users to figure out and makes you do things the "Facebook way." So it will end up with a glut of people who join and do little more than post lame status updates and maybe throw a spy-ware riddled drink your way. It's easy to see how it could be little more than CB Radio of the new millenium.

I won't dare to posit on who might survive, but there are much better (simpler) models out there that could be ubiquitous if they learn how to monetize and can continue to be relevant. The key is to be what the widest base of users need you to be in the easiest fashion possible. Which is why TV is still appreciated by ten-year-olds as much as it is by 75-year-olds.

Bob