Is Facebook Still Cool?

While some media agencies believe that Facebook usage among younger consumers is starting to slip, others are arguing that this perception is due to the way usage is being reported. Younger consumers are accessing the site via mobile phones, but currently there is no single source that aggregates consumption statistics from all platforms so the younger age cells are likely under-reported.

According to Facebook, their overall growth is steady. Almost 5 million users have signed up in December, while the previous two months recorded increases of approximately 4 million each, with the coveted 18-25 age cell reportedly growing 8.2 percent. Here’s how the December growth rates are distributed across the various Facebook reported age breaks:

While women continue to lead in usage across all age groups, it remains the most popular social networking site, globally and in the US. According to Nielsen, the average time spent on Facebook by US users has grown by 200 percent from December ’08 to December ’09. The data suggests that it most certainly still has the “cool” factor among users and marketers alike.