Now Snapchat faces the same challenge, as older users are finally figuring out what all the fuss is about.
ComScore estimates that 38% of 25-to-34-year-old U.S. smartphone users are now on Snapchat -- up from just 5% three years ago, which means it's officially breaking into the mainstream.
Over the same timeframe, meanwhile, the share of U.S. smartphone users over the age of 35 has risen from 2% to 14%.
Of course, the majority of Snapchat users are still relatively young. Overall, about 69% of 18-to-24-year-old U.S. smartphone users are on Snapchat -- up from 24% three years ago.
We don’t know exactly how Snapchat is trending among children and teens, because the research firm doesn’t track users younger than 18. Anecdotally, however, I can tell you they’re crazy for the app.
What does the near future hold for Snapchat?
“Snapchat isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, so I would expect to see them continue to grow their audience across all demo segments,” Adam Lella, senior analyst at comScore, tells me.
“Of course, the 18-to-24-year-old segment is already nearing full penetration, so growth there might naturally slow,” Lella notes.
“I would expect to see much of the growth come from the 25-34 y/o segment (i.e., older Millennials), which has been catching on slower than the younger Millennials, but still has a lot of room to grow, and also is an audience that likely has an easier time understanding the product’s appeal (vs. Persons 35+).”
Meanwhile, “The 35+ segment is the most interesting, as it’s starting to reach a critical mass of users nearing 15% penetration,” Lella added.
“I would expect that penetration number to continue to inch up, but I don’t foresee it coming anywhere near Facebook’s high levels of reach among older users anytime soon.”
Of course, whether this is good or bad for Snapchat still remains to be seen.