O P I N I O N
By Annette Kurman
Did we boomers become the demographic of Facebook?
I’ve been reading how Facebook has become a land of baby boomers reaching out to their grammar school buddies since Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z have moved on to more recent and trending online spaces: Tik Tok, Instagram, AI ChatGPT, WhatsApp, and other trendy (read: few seniors) platforms.
Which is fine by me. I have no desire to learn and actually spend time on these new-ish platforms that sometimes come — and then go. What I want to do is find out what happened to the neighborhoods in which I grew up in Philadelphia, learn about my peers from grammar school through high school, and connect with other boomers I meet on vacation or out in the community. Oh, and watch “reels” of my favorites entertainers (in my case they happen to be Golden Girls and comedian Jim Gaffigan) as well as exploring hobbies and supporting my causes.
But is that actually true? Did everyone except seniors flee Facebook? According to Statistica, in 2025 about 42 percent of users were ages 18-34 while ages 55+ comprised 24 percent of its users. Facebook, Statistica says, is the most used online social network worldwide, with more than 2.93 billion users in 2022.
Per soax, 74 percent of us (boomers) use it primarily to stay in contact with family and friends while 40-45 percent of younger users use it primarily for entertainment (videos, memes, etc.) [Just what is a meme?] And what business or organization doesn’t have a Facebook presence? Businesses may not have a web page, but they most likely have a Facebook page.
Another take: While declining in popularity with younger generations with only 36 percentage of Generation Zers using Facebook at least once a week, 87 percentage of millennials, 90 percentage of Generation Xers, and 96 percentage of baby boomers use Facebook weekly.
Do you remember when Facebook first launched February, 2004 (originally called “TheFacebook”) evolving from a college network site to its current global social networking service? It was limited to Harvard University students, then expanded to other universities before eventually opening to the general public in 2006, surpassing MySpace (remember that?) to become the world’s most popular social media platform.
Boomers’ second favorite platform? YouTube! Where else can you find out how to stop your screen door from slaming shut or how to install a new toilet yourself? YouTube is used by 88% for 55+ users and has 450 million registered users 55+. I use it myself when the directions, in two-point font, are too small to read and I need to actually see what needs to be done.
And who doesn’t remember the neighborhoods in which they grew up or the names of their grammar school friends (Athough I guess it may not be as high as I think). I want to see the “then” and “now” of my hometown and how the six-year-olds in my kindergarten class are now Grammys.
I remember in those early, heady days of Facebook where I uploaded 100s of print photos and put them into albums so my friends from a certain era could view them (“Hey, that’s me!” Hit like!)
According to techandsenior.com, social media use among seniors as grown from 75% in 2021 to 88% in 2022.
Interesting social media trends among those over 50:
- Social media is one of the top methods to stay connect with others
- U.S. senior citizens support identity verification to create social media profiles more than any other age group
- Facebook and YouTube are the favorite social media platforms among older adults
- Instagram and TikTok are becoming more popular among the 50+ crowd
- 45 percent of 55+ people use social media to access news content ; 70 percent still use TV to access and consume news content
- According to the latest statistics, 65 years+ are Facebook’s fastest-growing demographics
Do you subscribe to any of these? Per Technology for Seniors, here are seven websites you should visit:
- AARP
- Sixty and Me (female oriented)
- Senior Planet
- Senior Living
- Senior Forums
- National Institute on Aging
- Ted (best TED talks for seniors, TED talks about retirement)
How about the best YouTube channel for seniors? Afterall, YouTube has 450 million users over the age of 55, making up 17.8 percent of total YouTube viewers and 88 percent of those 55 plus using it on a weekly basis.
- Sixty and Me
- More Life Health Seniors
- Yes2Next
- Holy Schmidt!
- Pasta Grannies
- This is our Retirement
- Retirement Travelers
- TED
- Rich Bowlin
- Mr. Beast
You can reminisce with Annette Kurman at [email protected]
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