The tech industry typically focuses on their main base of consumers, Millennials, who overwhelmingly are the majority of users of social media apps, especially those with an emphasis on photo and video sharing such as Snapchat and Instagram. LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network, is the only social media app that is used in almost the same frequency between adults older than 50 and adults age 18 to 49.
According to YouGov Profiles there are clear differences between the 50+ adult who uses LinkedIn frequently and the 50+ adult who does not. The older adult who uses LinkedIn is more likely to be a college graduate and have a family income of 60K+. These attributes of the frequent older LinkedIn user fit right into LinkedIn’s main target, White-collar workers typically in commercial business, who use the tool for networking across industries and finding new professional opportunities. Older LinkedIn users are more likely to be Republican, fitting in with the target of business-oriented adults, but are also more likely to be Strong Democrats, as the majority of adults with graduate degrees are Democrats. Leaning and weak Democrats and Independents appear more frequently in older adults who do not use LinkedIn.
Interestingly, older LinkedIn users are more likely to live in either a Rural Area or a Suburb than a Town or City. Perhaps, the need for professional social networking is stronger in sparsely populated areas because there are less industries in close proximity. There is no discernable difference in the geographic region in which one resides for the older LinkedIn User and the older non-LinkedIn user.
