Good for him. Although I don't really understand his stance: did he want to be on a social platform because it was `cool`? It might be only me, but I never wanted to be there because it's cool. I joined it because I wanted to keep contact with some of my friends be it cool or not.
I first joined it in 2007, meaning I was 13 or 14 years old :). Being South African, the adoption rate for internet here was quite slow compared to first world countries. So back then it literally was like the cool thing to be on, just like being the kid on the block with latest and greatest Playstation or motorbike.
From a socio economic point of view. It's actually terribly when I think of it today. But that's just how it were growing up.