'More online adults' registering on social networking sites

19th January 2009

Adults have outnumbered teenagers in terms of profile registrations on social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace, new figures have revealed.

Statistics from the Pew Internet and American Life Project's tracking survey for December 2008 have shown that some 35 per cent of online adults have registered on such websites.

While this is a lower percentage value than the 65 per cent of online teenagers who also have created a social networking profile, the group said that it actually represents a larger number of people, as there are more adult internet users overall.

In total, the number of adults using such sites has increased by more than four times since 2005, when eight per cent had registered a profile.

Young adults were found to be the most likely to adopt the trend of social networking, with 75 per cent of internet users aged 18 to 24 admitting they used these sites.

Adults over the age of 65 were the least likely to be involved in social networking, with seven per cent claiming to have a registered profile.

Internet marketers are expected to make wider use of social media as a marketing vehicle in the coming year, according to Ron Callari of InvestorSpot.com.