Old Timers Wheelchair to Facebook

I know we have briefly talked about the opening of Facebook to all Internet users, but I came across this Article2 in BusinessWeek that puts those new users into perspective.

What I have taken from the article itself is of course the surge of old timers going to the site. I know we have talked in class about the number of people going to the site, but we really didn't talk about WHO is going to the site. Facebook has really seen a surge in the professional arena. It estimates that more than 41% of all Facebook visitors are now part of the 35 and up crowd. What that means for investors and marketers is a bigger bottom line.

There has been an influx of young to old business professionals using Facebook to network. Consulting firm Ernst and Young has lauded some 15,000 users, while Citigroup estimates some 8,500 users. It has become a trend in corporations and tech companies to create their own Facebook network. What this can mean for marketers is the fact that professionals are using the site. With professionals comes a big annual income or total household income. Just a law of economics is when you have more money, you tend to spend more money. This can lead to a bigger marketing advantage because the users actually have disposable income to spend. A number by ComScore puts 48% of all Facebook users total household incomes over $75,000, while MySpace's is at a mere 39%. So for marketers there is definitely more value to the site of Facebook.

How can this be a benefit for marketers or investors?

For marketers, the opening of Facebook to all groups really opens up different market segmentation's. So it will become easier for marketers to market a specific group. Also with the creation of software that is being provided by Microsoft will make it that much easier. Plus as mentioned above a bigger disposable income, to actually spend money.

For investors, with this new segment being pushed into Facebook it is really adding revenue to the bottom line. There is an estimate in the article that Facebook can now fetch over 4.9 Billion dollars, which is way more than previous bids. A suitor for Facebook, as suggested by analyst's is Yahoo. Some suggest Yahoo will be a big player for any bids that may come along, if Facebook markets themselves for sale. With Yahoo being one of the largest search engines, and a user base already in place, an acquisition can only put exponential numbers to their site.

So now that we have professionals going on spring break at Facebook, will this be Facebook's new niche? So will it go from college folk, to business folk, to a bigger dollar sign?