8% Growth in Social Media -- Thanks to Aging Facebook Users

The Guardian reports today that social media has seen an 8% growth in popularity, largely thanks to the growing number of older persons on Facebook. Writer Mercedes Bunz says, the use of social media is still growing: a survey has revealed that 19% of internet users now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others.

Bunz also reports that Facebook users are getting a lot older. Its median age is now 33, up from 26 in May 2008, while the average Twitterer is still 31, a figure that has remained stable over the past year. By comparison, MySpace users' median age is 26, down from 27 in May 2008, while LinkedIn is 39, down from 40.