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Social network statistics - youth dropping out?

Could youngsters be falling out of love with social networks; They are definitely still using the internet as much as before.

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6 Aug 2009 research
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Some interesting research by comscore and ofcom was released recently showing the strength of UK social networks..

First up, from Comscore; data on the Top 10 Social Networking sites in the UK:

top-10-sn-may-09

Secondly, also from comscore, showing that unsurprisingly younger audiences are more engaged today;

sn-engagement-may-09

Finally research from Ofcom shows that it is amongst the older audiences that social networks are experiencing the most growth. 25-34 years olds on Facebook increased from 40% last year to 46% this year; whilst 35-54 years grew the fastest - up 8% to 35%.

What was most interesting though was that 15-24 year olds decreased by 5% to 50% over last year. It is the first time it has decreased so it is not exactly a trend but it will be interesting to see whether this is a blip or the start of some longer trend. Could youngsters be falling out of love with social networks? They are definitely still using the internet as much as before. My bet this is a blip and that usage will continue to grow.

About Riaz

Riaz speaking on stage

I've spent over 25 years founding and scaling B2B companies - as COO, CEO, CMO and CTO, often across the same company's lifecycle. An engineering degree from UCL and an MBA from Bayes means I understand both the technology and how a business actually runs around it.

I co-founded Digital Oxygen, which was acquired by Silverpop and later by IBM. I scaled Profusion from 15 people to 100. I founded and led Radiate B2B for nine years, building the first MCP-based AI connector for LinkedIn Advertising, before closing it in 2026 rather than rebuild around a declining display-advertising market.

Today I run Connected Paths, an AI implementation consultancy, and work directly with a small number of B2B founders and CEOs through advisory, fractional COO/CMO work, mentoring and speaking. I've mentored 50+ founders through Techstars, UCL and Bayes, and chaired the Cass Entrepreneurs Network for its 3,000 alumni and investors.

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