btw2.net

The graying of the Web
By Matt Richtel, The New York Times, September 11, 2007
via Cnet news.com

Older people are sticky.

That is the latest view from Silicon Valley. Technology investors and entrepreneurs, long obsessed with connecting to teenagers and 20-somethings, are starting a host of new social networking sites aimed at baby boomers and graying computer users.

The sites have names like Eons, Rezoom, Multiply, Maya’s Mom, Boomj and Boomertown. They look like Facebook–with wrinkles.

And they are seeking to capitalize on what investors say may be a profitable characteristic of older Internet users: they are less likely than youngsters to flit from one trendy site to the next….

Social networking has so far focused mainly on businesspeople and young people because they are tech-savvy and are treasured by Madison Avenue.

But there are 78 million boomers–roughly three times the number of teenagers–and most of them are Internet users who learned computer skills in the workplace. Indeed, the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a market research firm….

They are sticky. And the older they get, the stickier they get. One thing that will slow this down is that as they age they tend to lag on technology. They tend to have slower devices and connections.

I think the new sites take that into account some but perhaps not enough.