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SALT LAKE CITY -- During the first few meetings of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake, there were a few people over the age of 55.
Scott Duehlmeier with the Summit Group said, "As time has gone by, over the past couple of months, there have been more that are coming out."
Researchers at iStrategyLabs say in just the last month Facebook users aged 55 and up jumped 25 percent. Duehlmeier says most seniors who come to the meetings are just trying to learn more about what social media is, but once they learn how to keep in touch with people on sites like Facebook, they love it.
"A lot of them just want to jump on and interact with their friends and catch up with relatives and old friends that have moved away," Duehlmeier said.
Waves of new users like this have marketers all over the country trying to figure out how to advertise on the site.
"Advertisers and marketers aren't stupid," Duehlmeier said. "They're looking for where people are."
Duehlmeier says advertisers like Facebook because of how it uses a person's profile information to help marketers reach the exact demographic they're looking for.
"[You can say,] ‘I want to advertise to this group, right here starting tomorrow,'" he said.
For some people, knowing their parents are on Facebook is troubling. They feel they have to leave certain groups or censor themselves in a way they wouldn't have to if mommy or daddy wasn't watching. There are even support groups on Facebook for users who feel this way.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
