Oldbook. When Grandma posts on your wall.

Oldbook--the new Facebook, but a separate site from those older than forty. This is perhaps the only solution to the up and coming scare that Facebook is facing. Well, maybe not the only solution, since creating separate networks based off age would cause problems for those on the border line. But let's continue.

I love my Grandma. Don't get me wrong. She is as sweet as Grandma's get. HOWEVER, when she friended me about two months ago I saw about 70% of my Facebook freedom disappear or rather been eradicated by my new privacy settings. After she half-learned how to use Facebook, she began to use the Facebook status bar to respond to her personal emails. She wrote, "Dear Connor, Please send me the photos of the museum event. Love, Grams" This appeared on my mini-feed along with ten of my friends' mini feeds. Not terribly embarrassing, but I saw another 20% of my privacy disappear. She then proceeded the last two weeks to actually write on my wall. And so, I found myself completely censored. I could no longer be myself with out receiving a wall post saying, "You know Grams doesn't approve.". That hurts. Apparently, I am not the only one to notice this. "When you start getting friended by your grandmother, I think that's when it starts to lose its cool," said Huw Griffiths, evp and global director of marketing accountability and research at Interpublic Group's Universal McCann.

Steve McClellan poses the question, "Is Facebook Getting uncool for 18-24s?" According to multiple media agencies, this is a fact and they have data to prove it-- "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. And the drop-off rate is accelerating. In July, usage fell 3 percent, in August 13 percent and in September 16 percent."

The belief that it is similar to Myspace losing its trendiness is valid. Also, that growth in older people's use of the site has turned some 18-24s away. But, I do not think that it is the invasion of Facebook by older people. That is not the problem. If Facebook was considered uncool by this age group, we would see a complete abandoning of the site. In reality I don't think that the data is accurate since it does not take into account mobile phone usage. With the invention and development of the iPhone and other smart phones we are beginning to see a tremendous amount of Internet usage via mobile phones, almost half of which use their phones for social networking. see chart

Facebook is not like Myspace in that the loss of the 18-24s age group will not immediately crash the entire site. The Facebook Platform will maintain activity since many are using it like an operating system. I do not see a near end to Facebook, however, the growing population of older users will generate a loss in 18-24s.