For some time I’ve subscribed to Jumpin Jack Flash, the e-newsletter of the Boomer Project, watching for insights on marketing to what we assume to be the next treasure trove of donors.
Here is their take on Boomers and social media:
"Let’s agree social networking is simply not as widely accepted among Boomers and older adults as it is among today’s young adults. And … maybe it never will be."
The Boomer Project gives two reasons why they don’t expect Boomers to widely embrace social media:
1) Social media sites expressly targeting Boomers have failed to date, indicating Boomers just aren’t interested.
2) The psychology of social media is wrong for Boomers — older adults get increasingly more selective about relationships and seek emotional satisfaction from established relationships. Generally, they aren’t looking to expand their social system.
Using Facebook as the benchmark, the article notes that, even with recent growth of social media in the older age segment, penetration remains quite low — 60% of the 18-34 age group are Facebook users (43 million users); only 13% of those aged 45+ are (15.7 million users).
Our own DonorTrends data, however, suggest that among established donors, Boomers are significantly more engaged with social media — 26% publish their own profiles on social net sites, 41% visit the profiles of others, and 17% have donated to someone’s personal fundraising page.
That paints a more promising picture for fundraising than the Boomer Project would suggest … even to a "bear" on social media like myself.
Tom
P.S. If you haven’t already, you really should get your hands on the DonorTrends white paper Roger and I prepared focusing on social media — Online Giving 3.0 … New Approaches for Early Adopters. It’s bundled for $50 with Online Fundraising: Postage Still Dominates, But Mouse Is Gaining.
This article was posted in: Boomers, demographic trends, direct marketing, Don't Miss these Posts, DonorTrends, online activism, online advocacy, online fundraising, online publishing, online video, research, social networking.
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I read Online Giving 3.0 … New Approaches for Early Adopters and was very enlightened. However, I read the methodology section and the media used to conduct the surveys and had questions. While I do not question the validity of the completed surveys, would the selection of media for the surveys potentially skew the results?
An interesting take, but I’m not convinced this is true. Look at LinkedIn and the growth of their numbers on Facebook. As Facebook became more relevant, i.e. not entirely focused on the college crowd, and offered relevant ways for them to connec t, they have started jumping on board in droves.
This trend will not reverse as long as social media is relevant to them. Organizations wanting to target these audiences should find the relevant material they are looking for and analyze the best ways to connect. We’ve found that educated and involved boomers have been increasingly interested in social media, but only when it has been relevant for them.
-Erica
Take a look at Facebook Insider for some very enlightening data. Like the fact that women 55+ were the fastest growing Facebook segment in Q1 of this year at 1,650,000 new users…but in Q2 650,000 of those same users unsubscribed. This is fairly strong evidence of Boomer Project’s point. Boomers will try it, but if it doesn’t make sense for their lifestyle, they won’t stay.
I have to agree with Brent, Boomers will try social networking, and if it doesn’t work for them they may move on, or try it again later. Social networking has become so mainstream among young people that eventually it will catch on with Boomers, it will just take longer.