Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) apparently doesn’t think anyone over the age of 99 uses its site, or no-one can live past 99. The company would be wrong, however, as at least one Michigan centenarian does use the site.
A post on the Associated Press, which came from WDIV-TV, shares the story of Marguerite Joseph, who is now 104, but when her granddaughter tries to input her birthdate as 1908, the site simply changes it to 1928. Apparently, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stops counting the years when users turn 100.
Joseph has remained 99 years old on her Facebook account for the past two years. Even though she is legally blind and hard of hearing, her granddaughter reads posts to her and responds to messages sent to her through Facebook. Her granddaughter also said whenever she has tried to correct Joseph’s age on the site, it sends back an error message.
In case you’re wondering, we’ve tried changing the age on other Facebook users’ accounts, but it just doesn’t accept any age over 99 years old.
And Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is certainly selling senior citizens short. Joseph isn’t the only senior who spends a lot of time on the site. A study that came out last summer showed that Baby Boomers became the fastest growing age group on social media. So no tech company can assume (and you know what they say about assuming) that seniors won’t be using it.
Of course, the main reason ages over 99 aren’t accepted on Facebook probably has to do with the coding on the site. But in today’s modern world, even a 104-year-old grandmothers use social media. So maybe it’s time for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to get with the program.
