Except for a couple of stats-first, that the middle-agers are the fastest growing segment of Facebook, and second-that Facebook has now overtaken MySpace as the largest social network, the rest of what I have to offer is anecdotal, speculative, and well... just common sense.
A few years ago, anyone born before 1980 was a pretty rare thing on Facebook. I was there, and the solitude was nice. It was sort of like AOL IM in the early days when we all LOLed among a group of relatively small users and created many of the acronyms used today. But like IM, Facebook has become mainstream. I now have lots and lots of friends. My social network is already over-scheduled, over-obligated, and over-subscribed. My network is like the family tree at the local animal shelter. I need a StealthBook.
I do have a theory that I would like to posit on all the new entrants on Facebook. First (and I offer this at great risk of being laughed at), Facebook is like the new CB radio. There! I said it! Except for the absence of handles and 10-codes (as in "10-4, good buddy") it's pretty much the same. People go on and see who's there, who's saying what. Users can belong to multiple communities simultaneously in Facebook Land. A user can choose to engage in the rhetoric, or just sit back and see what others are saying. People can follow along, if they just want to be passive. Just like CB radio.
The truth is, CB radios may have been the first social media. It was broadcast one-to-many and one-to-one (as long as you didn't mind everyone else listening to your one-to-one). One of the things I do remember about the CB days. People used it to connect and form relationships. And I mean the kind with the Big "R". And interaction and engagement were pretty much givens.
So here's where the real theory comes in: I'm going to predict that Facebook will be the new launchpad for people to reconnect with their pasts--times and people when things were happier and simpler. I'm witnessing all sorts of interaction taking place as all the middle-aged newbies jump on. With that (just like with high school reunions) hookups are bound to happen. I have strong recollection of a Dr. Laura show that was specifically warning of the perils of attending high school reunions alone--as in, without a spouse. There were countless testimonials of what can happen when old feelings are regenerated and emotions are left unchecked.
Facebook is a Petrie dish for feelings and emotions to come screaming when people are vulnerable or lonely. Add the Internet uninhibition, and voila!
That's all I have to say about that. I'm going 10-7 (in CB, that's "I'm going away").
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