News flash, teens: Your parents are getting the hang of Snapchat.
A new report from comScore reveals that the ephemeral messaging app isn't just for teens and college students anymore. The market research firm says that Snapchat has been "rapidly growing its user base" among older millennials (that would be 25- to 34-year-olds), and even the over-35 set, as of late.
Case in point: Three years ago, just 5 percent of smartphone users between 25 and 34 used Snapchat, and just 2 percent of those 35 and older did. Now, penetration among these age demographics has grown to 38 percent and 14 percent, respectively.
Nearing 15 to 20 percent penetration among users 35 and older is a huge deal. Reaching "critical mass" within that particular audience segment could eventually propel the app "to much greater heights," comScore said.
Meanwhile, this influx of oldies has not deterred the app's younger users. ComScore said penetration among those 18 to 24 grew to an "all-time high" of 69 percent in April, up from 24 percent three years earlier. For more, check out the chart below.
According to comScore, Snapchat's growth in recent years has been "fueled" by several innovative features, including "Stories," which lets you share snaps with all of your friends at once, and, of course, all those fun face "Lenses" the app refreshes often (think barfing rainbows, puppy dog ears, and flower crowns).
"This has been one of the keys to Snapchat's success: equipping users with the tools to create engaging content, which produces more content for others in the network to consume," comScore wrote. "And the more available content, the more potential it has to appeal to a broader audience with a wider array of interests."
Last month, Bloomberg reported that 150 million people now use Snapchat every day, up from 110 million in December and more than Twitter's estimated 140 million daily active users.
Not surprisingly, all those extra eyeballs mean potential revenue for the start-up, which recently placed ads in between Stories for the first time.