It’s inevitable, whenever I lead a social media workshop with a church or non-profit, someone will raise their hand to explain that their membership is aging. They go on to exclaim that their membership doesn’t use the tools of social media. A grizzled veteran to this type of expletive, I’m armed with research to prove my point — “Yes, your aging membership is using the tools of the social web, in fact, they’re the highest concentration of users in the United States.”
Ad Age recently developed a fascinating infographic (below) that details the demographics of social media. The infographic is based on actual user profiles, not simply web traffic. Not only does the Ad Age infographic prove may earlier point about aging membership, it also offers a number of other “aha” moments that churches should pay attention to, for example:
- More than half of the users of Linkedin are 35 and older. People are seeking new jobs and networking opportunities. How can your church create a place for these folks to meet, provide job placement assistance, or host a job fair?
- 71% of Facebook users are parents. Your church could host a “private” group on Facebook to network parents in your congregation. This could also be an extension of an existing Sunday school class or small group.
- 61% of Facebook users have been married for less than one year. Again, great opportunity to network young couples in your congregation.
- The Twitter brand may be well known, but recent estimates claim that less than 10% of the population is using it. In turn, your church may not want to invest resources in Twitter, but embrace those social sites that cater to the demographics of your community.
What other “aha” moments are you able to uncover? Please share below. Blessings!
