June 16, 2009
Here’s a fun account from MediaPost of the phenom of Boomers joining the world of online social networking. As the article begins:
"’Congratulations! Your parents just joined Facebook. Your life is officially over.’ Such is the greeting visitors receive upon entering the blog ‘Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook,’ which – as the name implies – chronicles the well-intentioned but oft-hilarious wall posts, quiz results, group memberships and status updates of an older generation of social network converts."
The article notes that the number of Facebook members ages 55+ grew 194% in the last half of 2008 compared, for example, to only 21% growth for those ages 18-24.
"Boomers are not particularly cutting-edge – they just catch up later," confirms J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich MONITOR and coauthor of Generation Ageless, a book chronicling how Boomers live today.
Even I have started paying attention!
Here’s the tipping point to watch for: when Boomers start sending messages via their social nets versus plain old email.
Tom
Tom,
re: “Here’s the tipping point to watch for: when Boomers start sending messages via their social nets versus plain old email.”
It’s already happening. I have one friend who organizes a group of us for lunch via FB, another with whom I send FB messages in lieu of email. Does the fact that these are all boomer signify anything?
Thanks for the daily post!
Maureen
PS: Go easy on our website, if you take time to visit. A replacement is under construction.