comScore Media Metrix's analysis of MySpace's average user's age -- I don't buy it.

     Fred Wilson and others note comScore Media Metrix's analysis of MySpace, claiming more then half of their visitors are age 35+.  This just didn't sound right to me, so at first I justified it in my mind by thinking that the younger users use it more, which is indeed accurate, and made this statement above sound somewhat more plausible in my mind.

     But continuing to mull over it, this claim still didn't feel right.  I really don't think more then half of their monthly uniques are 35+ -- and I know far less then half of their pageviews are 35+.  But back to the monthly user count.  One can easily use myspace to browse for users of a certain age.  So picking out one particular zip code and using a 5 mile radius around it, I queried for users under 35 and saw 513, and then queried for users 35+ and saw 44.  Then ballparked the percentage of those users active in the last 30 days -- and it doesn't seem to change or skew the results.

     Maybe this particular zip code was off.  So move to a completely different part of the country thats a bit more urban.  Users under 35 = more then 3,000.  Users 35+ = 1703.  An it's harder to tell what percentage of accounts are active in the last 30 days here, but still, there doesn't seem to be much variance.

     Take a 3rd zip code = 3,000+ under 35, 548 over.  A 4th zip code = 3,000+ under 35, 900 over 35.  In all zips I'm looking at the vast majority of people registered are under 35, and of those the bulk of the accounts are indeed active in the last 30 days.  And a small % of these are bots or automated accounts.  There just seems no way  the comScore data can be right, unless for some very odd reason lots and lots of 35+ people browse the website but never create a profile, or tons of people lie (heavily) about being (much, much) younger then they are.

     So I don't believe the comScore Media Metrix numbers.  I think they are counting the head of household's age in their sample, but in reality it's the younger members of the household that are visiting myspace, and being counted as older people.  I think myspace both in regards to unique visitors, and by far in regards to pageviews, is dominated by a younger audience then the comScore Media Metrix anaylsis would lead one to believe.

     And I haven't investigated their panel methodology in a few years, but if it is the same as I recall the last time I looked into it, they could very likely be off quite significantly IMO.

     See also: MySpace confirms numbers, but how?

Comments

[John Moore]

These numbers may also reflect the joke factor. I have seen countless MySpace portfolios where the subject enters their age in as 99 y.o. etc...

I'd be interested to see if this report factored out bogus ages. One bogus profile can raise the average age of another to 60.

I don't buy it either!

[Chris]

Interesting piece of independent research to challenge comScore's figures. It certainly surprised me when I read it, but given the blanket coverage social networking is getting here in the UK, I can believe there's a significant shift to the mass market in this space. As for the precise figures, the old adage of lies, damn lies and statistics comes to mind...

[Rob Dolin]

Well said.