New media is no longer just the province of the pubescent. A growing share of its audience is old. Ancient. Like, even over 40.The move to the a la carte world.
According to a September study of YouTube users by Nielsen NetRatings, a leading online analyst, one-third of the video sharing site's audience is over 45 years old. The same research found that more than 30 percent of the folks flitting about social networking powerhouse MySpace.com are between 35 and 49; 27 percent are over 45. A third of iTunes users are in their wealth-building years. Even the audience for Xanga.com, a less-heralded online social networker, is stumbling toward middle age, with 20 percent of its population over 45.
Other corners of the new media world are swelling with what was long considered old media's core audience. The average age of casual video gamers is 41 -- and half are women, according to comScoreMetrix, another online analyst, though other analysts say that might be a tad high on both counts. Podcasting consumers: 47 percent are over 35. And most bloggers are now buying acne medication for their teens.
All told, the digital revolution illustrates a theory heretofore popularized only by pudgy, balding men in too-tight pants:
Forty is the new 30, baby.
Everyone is online
Sunday, October 29, 2006
New Media's Old Users
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
