Think back to the first time you had ever used Facebook. What were your primary motives? Expression? Gratification? Connection? Whatever it was, it was chewed up and spit out by the young adults that were considered the target users of the social media website. The expressive individuals fled to Pinterest. The un-gratified; Instagram. Quicker connections? Head to Snapchat. While this social media hopscotch is typical behavior for young adults, it opened a new lane for Facebook to inherit a much more uncompromising audience.
Enter your parents. Often nosey for all the right reasons, parents started to investigate the media platform that allowed their children to communicate with strangers all across the globe. Once a majorly computer-illiterate group, parents and older generation Facebook users clung to the medium for all its quirky charm. This audience of Facebook users also skipped its predecessors (Myspace, AOL Instant Messenger, Xanga), meaning they haven't acquired the same sense of diminished satisfaction that came as a result of constant change in social media in our generation.
This trend of increased use by an older demographic on Facebook shouldn't be considered a bad thing. If you have a large family like I do, then it's a great way to keep in touch relatives. Since we've all seen how deplorable social media can get without parental interaction, maybe having that moral barrier can act as a voice of reason before posting that which could potentially damage your reputation. Parents are keeping Facebook wholesome and whether you like it or not, Aunt Jill and her corny, outdated memes are here to stay.
