MySpace: Not the Kiddies' Playground Anymore

Myspace, the Big Daddy of social networking sites, isn't the kiddie's playground anymore. It's become mainstream with adults age 35+ having taken over the sandbox over two years ago that the under 20 crowd originally built.

Originally created to compete with Friendster in the social networking arena, the marketing focus of Myspace almost from day one has primarily been aimed at 20-somethings and under. The idea was to provide a platform for young people to engage in their own unique brand of self-expression and connect with others who shared their taste in music, gaming, pop idols, fashion, and overall attitude about life in general. The other half of the equation, of course, was to generate revenue for Myspace through advertising specifically targeted to this youthful audience.

It was an idea that found favor with the younger set rapidly and between 2003 and 2006 the numbers of the 20 and under networkers grew exponentially, giving them dominion over the Myspace site. By 2006, however, the site seemed to come of age, unexpectedly it seems, as evidenced by a marked shift in the average age of Myspace users.

According to a 2006 study of the demographics of the Big Four social networking sites (Myspace, Facebook, Xanga, and Friendster) over 50% of Myspace users were in the 35+ age group and less than 20% of the site's users were age 18 and under. The study, "comscore", was conducted by Media Metrix and this surprising new information was quickly picked up and widely reported via the Associated Press (AP). We are left, however, to speculate as to the reasons for the demographic change, since the Media Metrix bean counters offered no causal explanation of their own.

One theory that has been bandied about is that more parents, frightened by reports of teens acting irresponsibly online and being victimized, discouraged their children's participation on Myspace. Even for teens whose parents allowed them to have a site, there would have had a chilling effect on maintaining it once their parents' began monitoring their activities there. Part of the attraction, after all, was the "secret clubhouse" feel of Myspace - no parents allowed.

A second theory is that more and more adults were being encouraged to join social networks, like Myspace, as another avenue for professional networking or for promotion of whatever cause they had taken up. This explanation seems quite plausible, particularly in light of the numbers of politicians, charities, and activist organizations that have put up Myspace pages in a past couple of years. Case in point: Every political party and candidate for U.S. President put up pages on Myspace and other social networking sites during the 2008 campaign.

The real reason(s) why the demographic has changed for Myspace may not be clear. What is clear, however, is that it did change and the trend toward a more mature site user demographic appears to be continuing. Myspace, it seems, is the big kid's playground now.