When is 137% Growth in 4 Months “Not Keeping Up?”

The highlight of this post earlier this month on Inside Facebook was that women over age 55 are the fastest growing demographic in Facebook.

While the fastest growing age group by total users is still 26-34, the number of women over 55 on Facebook grew by an astounding 175.3% since the end of September.  Their male counterparts, however, weren’t able to keep up – growing by only 137.8%.  The number of women over 55 on Facebook almost double the number of men over 55 on Facebook today.

It says something about the phenomenal growth of Facebook that men over 55 could increase by nearly 140 percent in just four months, and that it would be considered “not keeping up” with their female counterparts.

It’s not surprising to me that the growth among women is faster than that among men. I see that among colleagues at work, and with my wife and her friends (all of whom are well under 55, but still baby boomers.) This is particularly interesting for people involved in health care communications, since women play the primary role in family health care decisions.

If you work in health care and you’re not in Facebook yet, you should be.

The SMUG Facebook curriculum can help you get started.