'Boomers' explain why they don't like Facebook, despite its reputation as an older social network

• In recent years, Facebook has gained a reputation for its older demographic.
• Insider spoke with three people between 51 and 61 who said they don't use the platform.

While Facebook was once a hot spot for young people on the internet, the platform has developed a reputation for having an older demographic as teens have fled the website over the last decade.

Megan Baron, a 19-year-old from Ohio, previously told Insider that Facebook "seems like such a boomer social network." Alexis, a 14-year-old from Virginia, said that she wouldn't use the platform "as long as older people are on there."

The rate of older Americans using the website has grown significantly in recent years. Between 2015 and 2019, the percentage of boomers and folks from the Silent generation (born in 1945 or earlier) who said they were on Facebook increased by double digits, according to the Pew Research Center. People above 45 years old make up 35.2% of the total US Facebook users, while users between 13 and 17 only make up 2.9% of the total, according to a July 2021 report by Statistica, a market and consumer data consulting firm.

While the numbers paint a clear picture of the cohort change, some baby boomers and members of Gen X say they actually dislike Facebook, too.

Insider spoke with three folks between the ages of 51 and 61 who agreed with many teens who aren't interested in Facebook.

Some people said they didn't use Facebook because of misinformation and privacy concerns

Some people told Insider that they were concerned about misinformation on Facebok.

While the platform has instituted policies to remove COVID-19 misinformation, internal documents suggest that Facebook has struggled to prevent and remove COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy content, Insider reported.

Tim Simmons, 51 (making him a part of Gen X), told Insider he left Facebook two years ago because "it's turned into a sewer." He said many people he sees on the platform are "posting views that are either unacceptable or blatant BS," like political opinions he disagreed with, health misinformation, and "the overwhelming amount of general information being disseminated that is easily debunked," he added.

A Reddit user from the Midwest, who is 53 and wished to stay anonymous due to privacy concerns but asked to go by the nickname Jack, said via Reddit message that the misinformation he sees on the platform is one reason he does not like it.

Jack, who is part of Gen X, said he's been using Reddit for years and used to be on LinkedIn, but quit because "it became too much like Facebook."

Simmons, who lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia and works as an IT specialist for the US government, said he had security concerns with the platform shortly after he began using Facebook.

Facebook has a long history of security leaks and privacy breaches, like in April when a user on a hacking forum posted 533 million Facebook users' personal data - including phone numbers, locations, first and last names.

Simmons said he uses Reddit most frequently, and has an Instagram account, but has ditched all other social media platforms.

Kate Van Houten, a 61-year-old from San Francisco who said she exclusively uses Reddit, told Insider that she quit and rejoined Facebook multiple times over the years and was only ever on it to stay abreast of friends' activities. The baby boomer said she finally left because her friends "kept posting pictures of their food and saying stupid things."

Jack said the only change that "might" get him to use Facebook more would be if the company allowed everyone to stay anonymous, although he added that "if everyone was anonymous it wouldn't really be FB and quite honestly, not that useful."

"If they really wanted me back," Simmons said, "they'd give me more control over my data, and, moreover, more control over what I see." He added that he didn't like being served content and promotional products by Facebook's algorithm.

Van Houten said the only way Facebook could lure her back on the platform is if "they give me a reason to feel like I need it." She said she spends too much time on Reddit already and should "probably be doing something else."

Still, though, Facebook users do not appear to be on the decline worldwide. The platform was at its highest peak ever with 2.9 billion monthly active users in the 3rd quarter of 2021, according to an October 2021 report by Statistica.