• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, October 6, 2006

When MySpace first launched, it had a strong following among youngsters, especially young musicians and their friends. But now, the over-35s have joined the bandwagon.

New data released this week by comScore shows the majority of MySpace visitors now are over 35. As the presence of boomers and Gen-Xers has grown, the share of visits from younger users has decreased. The proportion of MySpace's audience between the ages of 12 and 24 dropped to 30 percent from 44.3 percent over the last year, per comScore.

These numbers don't signify that teens are abandoning MySpace, but do show the site is skewing older than in the past. And for MySpace, this shift likely is welcome news, as it gives the company an opportunity to broaden its marketing efforts. After all, how many 15-year-olds are going to look at ads about mortgages?

In fact, Fox itself seems to be encouraging this demographic shift, with moves such as placing a "Simpsons" clip on the site. Considering the show is in its 18th season, Fox has reason to think a good number of fans are older than 35.

Even apart from Fox Interactive's apparent attempts to draw a wide range of users to the site, it's natural to expect the middle-aged crowd would eventually embrace social networking. Many cultural shifts have started with youth, then worked their way up the generational ladder. Consider, 10 years ago, how many senior citizens knew about the Internet? For that matter, how many people over 30 wore jeans two generations ago?

Some are asking whether youngsters will continue to use MySpace, now that over-35s populate the site, but that's the wrong question. It's unlikely that age alone will drive teens from the site. Young people haven't stopped using the Web because older people surf it, nor have they stopped wearing jeans simply because baby boomers do.

On the other hand, a better, more innovative product probably will have the power to draw users from MySpace. And, when such a product is unveiled, the youngest users will predictably be among the first to embrace it.