Facebook for who?

AS YOUNGER generation Y users are turning away from Facebook, their grandparents are filling their places on the social networking site.

Computer users aged 55 and over are the fastest growing group to sign up to sites such as Facebook and MySpace, often using them to keep up to date with the lives of family and friends, especially grandchildren interstate and overseas - assuming they aren't among the growing number of younger users abandoning the social networking sites.

Figures show that the number of older users of Facebook increased nearly tenfold in America last year, while university-age users declined by 55 per cent.

Australian figures show that about one in five over the age of 55 is connecting through Facebook, with 550,000 logging in. Facebook claims to have more than 7 million users.

Social network strategist Laurel Papworth said Australia's take-up rate was generally about 2 to 3 per cent higher than the US for computer use.

The online community has responded by creating groups such as ''My grandma is on Facebook'', ''My granny is on Facebook and I love it!'' and ''Proud Nannas, Grandmas, Pas and Grandpas on Facebook''.

''Senior citizens are time rich and want to go where their grandchildren will go,'' Ms Papworth said.

Deakin University marketing and consumer behaviour specialist Associate Professor David Bednall said the 55-plus generation had used computers in the workplace and many now had the time to devote to social networking sites. He said the increase in usage came off a low base.

''If they have the mechanism and, particularly, if they have the time to do it, they are now learning what all the fuss is about … it's a catch-up,'' Professor Bednall said.

He said older users accessed social networking sites for the information they wanted and then logged off, whereas younger users tended to use the sites for long periods.

''[Older people] are not doing it for the sake of it; they might find somebody, or get in contact with someone but it is more purposeful rather than just enjoying the dialogue,'' he said.

Children's author Goldie Alexander used Facebook recently to advertise her latest book, Hedgeburners.

She became a Facebook user three years ago to keep in touch with her grandchildren but found it had its limits. She now has 41 Facebook friends but uses it only ''spasmodically''. ''It is mostly only when people contact me because I never remember the password,'' Alexander said.

''Mostly it is for the grandchildren and when other writers contact me, although I have convinced one grandchild to email me instead.''

Alexander, who says she is well into the 55-plus age bracket, is an avid user of other technologies such as Skype and YouTube.

''I think every generation has their own way of communicating. This generation is partnering later, and I think it keeps them from being lonely, so they spend more time on it than the older generation,'' she said.

But some older users have a harder time adapting to the social networking world, said Ms Papworth. ''All the [senior citizens] I have come across start off really nervous, but they get more confidence.''

Ms Papworth said the concept of the Facebook ''friend'' puzzled some. ''Some people would come to me saying, 'I don't understand why people I don't know want to be my friend; isn't that rude if I say no?'.''