In its early days, Facebook was made an overnight sensation by a college-age crowd that sought it out as an exclusive sanctuary in which to connect with their peers. For that market, it was an attractive alternative to sites deemed to have lost their cool -- like MySpace, which had become a haven for pre-teens and high schoolers. To me, this Adweek story sounds like deja-vu all over again.
Could it be that Facebook is now officially "uncool" for the 18-24 crowd? According to comScore, as it has gained a broader audience, the older teens and twentysomethings that drove Facebook's initial popularity are using it less. We all know Facebook has become a tool for professionals like photographers and marketing consultants, many of whom could (God forbid!) be the parents of the core demo Facebook was intended to serve.
I love this quote by Huw Griffiths, evp and global director of marketing accountability and research at Interpublic Group's Universal McCann:
"When you start getting friended by your grandmother, I think that's when it starts to lose its cool."
Gee, do ya think? According to comScore, the average number of minutes spent online with the site among 18- to 24-year-olds fell in September for the third consecutive month compared to the same period a year ago, with the drop-off rate increasing each month.
This reminds me of the October '06 Chronicle of Higher Education story about how many college students, preferring to correspond via text messaging, felt that e-mail was “for old people.” Is anyone at all surprised by this? I know that my children, who are now 19 and 24 years of age and attending large universities, would agree that Facebook ceases to be hip, cool or attractive to them in any way the instant one of their parents is on it. And yes, they do feel e-mail is for old people. Good luck getting either one of them to return an e-mail message. Marketing and media always strive to quantify and categorize target demographic groups in an attempt to monetize. I get that – let’s see how big or how affluent the audience is, so we can determine how much to charge advertisers targeting that audience. But here’s the problem - Did anyone really expect the 18-24 crowd could be categorized and cataloged so broadly? Talk about a moving target; they are all way too cool for us.
