socialmedian: New media boom-bust cycle revealed

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New media boom-bust cycle revealed

Source: The Guardian

Aug 05, 2009

Summary

• Britons spend average of 25 minutes online a day
• Twitter and Facebook warned over fickle users

From uncles wearing skinny jeans to mothers investing in ra-ra skirts, the older generation has long known that the surest way to kill a youth trend is to adopt it as its own. The cyberworld, it seems, is no exception.

The proliferation of parents and teachers trawling Facebook trying to poke old schoolfriends and lovers, and traversing the outer reaches of MySpace is causing an adolescent exodus from social networking sites, according to research from the media regulator Ofcom.

The sites, once virtual streetcorners, pubs and clubs for millions of 15- to 24-year-olds, have now been over-run by 25- to 34-year-olds whose presence is driving their younger peers away.

Although their love of being online shows no sign of abating, the percentage of 15- to 24-year-olds who have a profile on a social networking site has dropped for the first time – from 55% at the start of last year to 50% this year. In contrast, 46% of 25- to 34-year-olds are now regularly checking up on si

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