Over the past few weeks, there's been a flurry of articles on "granfluencers" - older people earning money in the creator economy by posting on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Key quote from the New York Times article As Older TikTok Creators Flourish, Brands Are Signing Them Up:
"Older influencers have popped in popularity recently," Ms. Karwowski said. Over the past year to 18 months, she added, "it's really been accelerating."
CNN's Forget retirement. These Baby Boomers are amassing huge social media followings says a key driver is that more and more older people are spending time on social media. Key quote:
"... the number of people 65-plus on social media grows each year: In 2014, 21% of those in that age group were on social media, a figure that more than doubled to 45% by 2021, according to Pew Research."
Grandfluencers are becoming influencers for similar reasons as younger folks are doing so - to pursue a passion, supplement their income, and/or just for fun.
Brit+Co's 12 Granfluencers That Prove Aging Is Fun has a list of their favorite granfluencers.
While granfluencers are growing in numbers and impact, they are still a relatively small part of the creator economy.
The 2022 MBO Partners Creator Economy study (we worked with MBO Partners on this study) showed that only about 6% of those earning money in the creator economy were 55 or older. So online influencing is still dominated by younger folks.
We'll have the results of our 2023 Creator Economy study in the fall. And while we expect younger influencers to continue to dominate, we also expect strong growth in the number of older influencers.