When it comes to new products and services that are introduced, usually young people are the first ones to give it a try. They overwhelmingly are the target audience in the first season of the offering. As time goes on, and it becomes more well-known, it begins to spread out to the general population and reflect the overall demographic of the overall population.
YouTube, for example, has already reached that plateau. They have reached the place where their users now reflect the demographic of the Internet in general, with 55% of its users now between the ages of 18-49. Most of this has to do with content that is attractive to all ages being uploaded continuously. There's something for everybody; and the expanding viewership shows it.
This is something online marketers must understand as part of their continuing efforts: Has your core user expanded beyond its original base? That question must be answered if we want to grow.
How we market to and engage our different users is a key to serving them well. We can't market to people as if they are a glob or have the 
same desires or needs.
So our job is to continually measure who it is we serve. MySpace has already found out that its core user is going up in age as well. The Internet especially can have the core user fluctuate and change in a very short period of time. Don't assume your base is the same as it was even a year ago.
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