For me it has basically been the year of the Facebook, so it’s hard to believe that Facebook is actually five years old this week. I started college in 2005 so I was lucky enough to see the very first version of Facebook (which has since gone through A LOT of changes). But, even after give years there are still a LOT of things that surprise me about Facebook and its users.
So here it goes, what has surprised me this year about Facebook:
1. Old ladies- Women over 55 are now the fastest growing demographic on Facebook., up over 175.3% in the last 120 days (according to Inside Facebook). Facebook is also growing faster with women in every single age group. Now a lot of my mom’s friends have joined Facebook in the last few months, but I am still surprised to see the numbers this large. A lot of my mom’s friends are joining just so they can seem hip and see what their children are up to, and apparently they are not the only moms hoping on the band wagon
2. The popularity of gifts- I’ve been known to give a free gift or two on Facebook, but can you believe that $30-40 million dollars of revenue comes from those virtual gifts? I didn’t think people ever bought those $1 gifts, but clearly I was very wrong. Now that Facebook has launched a scheduled gift application, which allows you to schedule giving Facebook gifts on people’s birthdays, I’m sure their revenue will only grow in the virtual gifting sector.
3. The 25 things note- A chain letter for adults, seriously? It’s most surprising to me that the 25 things note has become popular because the use of notes in general isn’t very popular. The 25 things note just proves that people will always love to talk about themselves in a forum where everyone can hear.
4. Inauguration Day- Two million status updates, WOW! I’m sure when Facebook started they never imagined that something so typically uneventful, like inauguration day, would bring people out in masses to their platform. It’s pretty amazing actually.
5. The hush over new Facebook- When new Facebook was launched there was an uproar over the design and usability of the platform. But that uproar has since been hushed, with hardly a whisper about “new” Facebook anymore. I’m sure Facebook was pleasantly surprised that this mini crisis dissapeared as quickly as it did.
I hope that over the next five years Facebook continues to surprise me with their innovative and connective thinking. Happy birthday FB!
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Let’s hope that the next five years doesn’t include other surprises…like a “look who is stalking you” tool. I think if that happened, FB would see a MAJOR decrease in activity, especially from the 21-25 age range
Hmm, I am not quite in the women over 55 demographic, but I do love Facebook!