According to a new report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project people ages 50 and older are joining social networks at an ever increasing rate.

In fact, social networking has just about doubled over this past year, swelling from 22 percent in 2009 to 42 percent in 2010.  comScore, a digital measurement company, found similar results: 27.4 million people age 55+ used social networking in last month, up from 16 million one year ago.

Why is this happening? Well I’m sure you can guess. Older adults want to connect with friends and relatives. But to me, that’s the easy part of the answer. The other half of the answer is in how new technology is not just being created — but designed.

The doubling of any population is unarguably a dramatic increase. Any time you see a change this substantial there must be multiple elements at play. Older adults aren’t just joining social networks because their friends and relatives are there. They’re joining because they are able to figure it out on their own.

Let me clarify. What we’re seeing is a massive cultural shift towards technology — in part because of good design. We have a tendency to stereotype older adults as at best not tech savvy, and at worst Luddites.

As tools become easier to use and better design is incorporated into computer hardware, software and websites the intimidating or hard-to-use “tech” part of technology dissolves away. Older adults no longer need to rely on a grandchild or neighbor to help them. Now, if they can read the screen they can pretty much do anything. I would argue that the problem never was that most older adults were not tech savvy, but that they just didn’t have the patience to deal with something that wasn’t designed intuitively.

Better design isn’t just for those who are not techy. Better design is for everybody. Better design makes things that are complex usable. I’ll go even further. Creating something that is not designed well is inexcusable. There isn’t a single man-made object on this world that can’t be improved with good design from a paint can with a built in roller tray to a superbly designed and well organized website.

HTML5 is starting to show up everywhere these days. While most of the demonstrations I’ve seen are used for fun I much prefer something that’s actually useful.  Like showing live updating time zones in a way you might not have ever seen before.

What is HTML5? Basically, it’s the fifth major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web — and it’s still in draft phase. Right now most websites use HTML4, which became the standard in 1997. HTML5 is designed to be leaner, faster, shorter — and it’s got four main upgrades. So hang in there technophobes, I’m going to make this as painless as possible.

1. The Canvas Element. This technology, initially introduced by Apple, allows for some low-level animation. It can primarily be used for 2D graphics like charts and simple animations. See examples at canvasdemos.com

2. The Video Element. With HTML5 video can play, without the need for any plug-ins. No more “your player is out of date” warnings. See examples at html5video.org

3. Geolocation. Perhaps this can be useful, perhaps this can be creepy. But HTML5 can use cell towers and Wi-Fi routers to precisely determine your location — way more accurate than using an IP address.

4. No Internet Needed. It may be rare that you’re without Internet access in one form or another, but one of the great things about HTML5 is that it doesn’t need constant access to complete tasks like working with e-mail.

HTML5 is not ready for prime time. Ian “Hixie” Hickson, an editor of the HTML5 Specification for WC3, expects HTML5 reach the Candidate Recommendation stage about two years from now, sometime in 2012. But don’t get too excited. According to Hickson, while parts of HTML5 (like Canvas) could be seen sooner it won’t be until 2022 or later that it all of HTML5 would be fully approved as a WC3 Recommendation.

As of this morning Facebook hit a major milestone. A whopping 500 million users.

It’s hard to imagine how big that number is, and personally it boggles my mind. I’ve written before about if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest in the world only after China and India. So much for all of you who say you’re giving up Facebook, huh? While that will eventually happen it’s probably not going to occur anytime soon.

Facebook also launched a pretty creative “thank you” from their employees. It serves as both a sweet and heartfelt appreciation for the support of their users — and no less important — a clever way to help humanize the company. This is especially important since the new, and possibly damaging, Facebook movie is coming out this fall.

In addition, Facebook has launched a new blog called Facebook Stories. It’s a way for those who have found Facebook to be an important tool in their lives to share their stories. You can also browse and read other’s stories, all categorized by unique themes and locations around the world with an interactive map.

Are anonymous user comments useful? Do they further intelligent discussion? Do they allow people to say what they really feel from behind a veil of secrecy? Anonymous user comments are almost seen as a basic right by some — that the Internet should be a forum that provides the ability for anyone to say what is really on their mind without fear of judgment.

This morning CNN ran an article about how some online news sites are trying to reign in anonymous comments because they often veer into bigoted, spiteful and hate-filled rants such as in the example below from the Buffalo News. The following comment was left by an anonymous user in response to a story about a local shooting:

“I hate what you people, and by that I mean the blacks, are doing to this city. Each area you move too [sic] quickly becomes over run [sic] with crime, loud music [at] all hours, adults swearing and screaming at kids, children playing in the street, porches with beer and garbage thrown all around.”

Now, some newspapers are going to extraordinary lengths to require those who wish to post comments to reveal their true identity, at least to the paper itself. The Buffalo News is asking everyone to register with their real name, address and phone number. Editors may even call to verify their information. The Sun Chronicle in Massachusetts is requiring even more information — including a credit card number. Registrants are charged a one-time fee of 99 cents to activate their account. The website then displays their real name and city (as listed on their credit card statement) beside their comments. So far only 22 people have signed up.

To be clear, in most cases anonymous comments aren’t in the least bit useful. That isn’t to say anonymous user commenting shouldn’t exist. Those who comment on a story anonymously aren’t going to change anyone’s mind with their insightful thoughts left below a blog post. Why? Most intelligent users marginalize and discard anonymous comments. In fact, I think the psychological purpose driving one to leave an offensive or hateful comment isn’t often rooted in a desire to change anyone else’s mind. It is about their desire to have a personal forum for themselves. A safe place for them to get the things they can’t say in public off their chest — in other words it is a function which only gratifies themselves, not others.

Honestly, I don’t believe it’s a question of free speech either.  I’m an ardent believer in free speech in almost all circumstances, including some of the most extreme. Should a vile hate group be allowed to run a website or hold an event? Of course. Should they be allowed to do it anonymously? Of course not. The first amendment of the constitution does not call for free anonymous speech.

The pro side for anonymous commenting usually comes down the point that some may feel that unless an anonymous venue is offered then certain ideas and truths will never see the light of day. I think this may have been true even as little as five years ago. But now the Internet has provided an anonymous venue for all. I think that newspapers and blogs have the right and responsibility to lead discussions, based on their own principles. After all, a blog’s comment section is part of their venue. Let everyone have their own.

Newspapers or blogs who require a credit card number, social security number or a personal phone call to set up an account are acting foolishly and self destructively. Those types of measures are set up by those who don’t understand the dynamic of the Internet. Creating strict barriers to communication will only cause fewer people to become involved. Social involvement is a vital component of any successful online presence.

So what can be done? The simplest thing is to create a written policy that potential commentators must agree to before signing up. The agreement should list out the types of offensive or hateful comments that will be removed. Users must have a valid e-mail address and IP addresses should be recorded. That allows users to still post anonymously but gives the newspaper or blog the ability to moderate comments. Want to go a step further? Use Facebook Connect to handle your login process. While someone can set up a fake account on Facebook it’s much harder to make it seem real. It’s a free way for you and your users to log in without setting up a whole new account and a great way to shine some friendly bright sunlight on the process.

Millennial Media, a company which claims it serves up ads to 72 percent of 82 million mobile users in the United States just posted some stats, and they’re pretty interesting.

As far as number of ad impressions go, in June Apple served up 56 percent of the market — and that doesn’t fully take into account the iPhone 4 because of the timing. BlackBerry’s RIM/OS is in second place with 17 percent. Android holds 11 percent, dropping 4 percent since May. That drop is interesting because the Android OS is used on multiple different handsets from several different manufacturers.

Good morning boys and girls, it’s time for a good old-fashioned new product unboxing!

As many of you may be aware, Consumer Reports is not recommending the iPhone 4 because of it’s antenna issues — while at the same time saying it’s still the best phone on the market and scoring it a full two points higher than any other phone made today. Which phones score next highest? The Apple 3GS and the HTC Evo4G. Consumer Reports suggests that if Apple offers a free fix to consumers then they will recommend the phone.

Apple has always paid close attention to packaging design by including it into the user’s experience. Steve Jobs has often said that packaging is an excellent chance to present and explain new and unfamiliar technology. The iPhone box is patented by Apple.

It’s not a horror movie. It’s not a psychological thriller. But from watching the trailers you might think it is. The undercurrent of dark, foreboding tension rises up like the heat and smoke from a fire that’s about to consume you. Let’s just say you’ll know where to find me on October 1st, when “The Social Network” is released.

The Social Network is a new movie, directed by David Fincher, (Se7en,  Fight Club, and the Oscar nominated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) based on the non-fiction bestseller “The Accidental Billionaires” written by Ben Mezrich. The story follows the rise of Facebook from Mark Zuckerberg’s (played in the movie by Jesse Eisenberg) Harvard dorm room to Silicon Valley in 2003. There, Zuckerberg meets Sean Parker, a young, wealthy entrepreneur (played by Justin Timberlake). And that’s when the story blossoms in a way that would warm Gordon Gecko’s heart with greed, deceit, fraud, bulging bank accounts — and, if you read what was leaked to London’s The Times newspaper, a bit of ruthless sex maniac thrust in just for spicy goodness.

Will this have any impact on Zuckerberg’s reputation? I don’t think anyone can say for sure. We’re a pretty forgiving (forgetful) bunch of people. The massive sting of Facebook’s privacy debacle already seems to be largely fading. Others still are claiming “Facebook fatigue” though it seems that isn’t stopping most people from checking their feed every day. Today, Facebook reports over 400 million users (making it the 3rd most populated country in the world after China and India — if it were a country).

We’ve had a lot of fun on Charles Chat the past few years keeping you up to date on the latest marketing and advertising trends, writing about them, and receiving insightful comments and feedback from our community of readers. But as everybody knows, when you grow you need to upgrade too. That’s why we’re continuing the adventure here, at our newly redesigned blog/Internet magazine, The Spark Report.

Why “The Spark Report,” you may wonder? With social media and Internet marketing changing the advertising landscape every day, we’re constantly challenging ourselves, learning, adapting, and more importantly: innovating. We even have internal monthly new technology meetings where everyone comes together to share leading edge ideas. We’ve used all that knowledge to create and refine our own custom program that takes social media to a whole new trackable level. We call it Sparking because, well, we invented it and there wasn’t a word for it.

We’ve been running and refining Sparking since before most people even knew what a Tweet was. And our program has become kind of a big deal. Sparking really generates results — and we generate the proof. At the end of every month we provide detailed, quantifiable reports that would make any CFO sit back and smile. Want to learn more?

So while Charles is still our main man, with this many web marketing and advertising specialists on our team offering their knowledge and unique perspectives, we’ve expanded our format from a blog into something more like an online magazine. Hence, we’re changing the title to The Spark Report, a name more in line with what we’re about — sparking relationships through the use of traditional and social media and new technology.

Now we bid adieu to Charles Chat (although all of our past blogs have been imported), and we continue the adventure here at TheSparkReport.com. We look forward to your feedback!

The FTC has created “Admongo.gov” in an effort to teach preteens about advertising. The program is a game that walks kids through the mall, home, and stores to show them how advertising is all around them and what advertisers are trying to say. This is nothing new, aside from being a way to reach today’s teens about the issue. I remember assignments in middle and high school that taught us about testimonials and the bandwagon technique, etc., and I wish we had a computer game to teach us, as it sounds like a much more fun way to learn than paging through a magazine.

In some ways, I can see why the FTC thought this new game was necessary. In recent years, advertising has taken a step further to blur the line between ad space and editorial. Where the issue used to be magazine ads blurring with magazine copy, with the clear, “THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT” now across ads, major guerilla marketing campaigns and product placements have taken advertising to a whole new level. Consider the “Biggest Loser,” which seems to have taken a queue from the movie “The Truman Show,” promoting product and passing it off as just another part of the show. If you watch, you know what I’m talking about. It’s the moment when Bob or Jillian take a contestant aside, show them this great product that will make their healthy lifestyle even healthier, i.e. “see these great ziplock bags, for storing and keeping your healthy meals fresh?” or “Check out this Walgreens, a convenient place where you can get healthy things you need anywhere in the U.S.” The contestant inevitably responds with, “Oh really? Yeah, yeah, I like it.” For me, it’s always the moment I gag and fast forward my DVR. I would venture to guess most adults are in the same boat as me. But if 8-12 year olds were watching the show, perhaps they may not know that Walgreens paid a boatload for the contestants to go get their vitamins there? So, good for the FTC. Kids need a game like this.

All of this is part of the reason I love social media as an advertising medium. It for the most part isn’t as “salesy” as traditional advertising can be. One of the fears the FTC had was that kids were being sold the sizzle and not the steak. In a Today Show clip, a rep from the FTC dissected an Apple Jacks commercial by saying it didn’t discuss the nutritional benefits of Apple Jacks and instead sold the idea that the Apple Jacks would make you happy. (My first thought—do Apple Jacks have nutritional benefits? My second—good thing you, FTC guy, are not an Advertising creative because your ads would be boring and your clients would tell you to take a flying leap.) Anyhow, back to social media.

Social media doesn’t require any selling at all. The best and most successful social media is about building relationships with the consumers so they will do the selling for you. Consider a Nielson/Facebook report we covered a few weeks ago. Social media product mentions are most successful when your fans are doing the selling. The report showed that people were 20% more likely to remember an unpaid mention in a Facebook newsfeed that someone was a fan of a product than a paid ad without any social mention.

So the most powerful “advertising” in social media isn’t paid ad space at all. It’s the peer to peer product mentions that happen on social network sites. Forrester recently found a way to measure how powerful social networks are for products. From their report, in 2009, consumers created 256 billion influence impressions on one another on social networks, and when blogs and review sites are in the picture, the number rises to a staggering 1.64 billion. Another interesting finding was that 84% of the people in social media fall into a “social influencer” category—friends, family and peers, not technically savvy, and most likely to pass along information if it’s easy for them to. If you can build relationships with your consumers and put the information in their hands in the process, they could become social influencers for your good. And those impressions can’t be argued with by the FTC.

So the best thing you can do on your social media sites is meet the people who like your product, and do what you can to cultivate those relationships. Help them out with more knowledge about your subject area. Offer them free samples. Keep them updated on the latest news. And most importantly, don’t simply talk at them. Ask them for their input, opinions, and experiences with your product. Your customers will feel taken care of, and they will appreciate the give and take. They will become loyal, and hopefully they will pass their good experiences with you along to their friends. No cheesy Bob and Jillian celebrity testimonials required. And as long as you are honest and authentic in how you talk about your product, no problems with the FTC.

Okay, please forgive the title but it’s Jon Stewart’s word not mine. Last night Stewart made some very serious points about how Apple, the underdog, with throngs of loyalist techie fanboys, is committing a terrible public relations/social media blunder by the way they’re treating Gawker/Gizmodo and it’s editor Jason Chen.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Microsoft was supposed to be the evil one, but now you guys are busting down doors in Palo Alto while Commandant Gates is ridding the world of mosquitoes,” says Stewart. He lays out the case better than I can. I’ll just let him tell it.