Facebook may no longer be solely a collegiate tool, but its users still heavily skew toward the younger and better educated — and by stunning margins.
In a recent Gallup poll, nearly three fourths of people aged 18-29 said they have a Facebook account. Among 30-49 year-olds, that figure dropped to just more over half (55%), while only 33% of people 50-65 use the website. A paltry 17% of people over 65 said they used Facebook.
The same was true of Google, with usage inversely correlated to age. Over eight in ten of Americans aged 18-29 said they use the site at least once a week, though that percentage plummeted among higher age groups, with just 34% of Americans over 65 saying they use the site.
When it comes to education, 85% of college graduates use Google, and 58% use Facebook. Yet among those with only a high school degree or less, just 35% visit Google in a normal week, and only 28% have a Facebook page.
While the disparity itself isn’t too surprising, the size of the split between demographics is. As both Google and Facebook continue to grow into ubiquitous Internet powerhouses, the poll shows that they’re penetration is still mostly concentrated in a specific age and educational demographic.