How to Talk to Baby Boomers About Social Media
Written by Joey Shepp   
Thursday, 02 July 2009 21:30
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baby-boomer-300px We've have been noticing the tension around social media with some Baby Boomers.  So we came up with a iist of talking points to help people look at it from a new perspective and redefine their relationship with social media.






  • It is important that Baby Boomers understand what is happening in social media so that they have a voice in what it becomes.  Even if you don't use it, it is good to understand why social media is one of the most important trends happening today.
  • The social media trend is the biggest communication revolution ever seen, and one not to be ignored or dismissed: If Facebook were a country it would be the 5th largest in the world, bigger than Brazil.

  • I do video conferencing with with my Grandma.  She loves to watch my life through Facebook.  As a matter of fact, the age group 45+ is the fastest growing group on Facebook.  If my Grandma can figure it out, anybody can.

  • You control your own privacy: In Twitter you can 'protect your updates' and Facebook allows for detailed permission customizations, allowing you to have complete control over your data and identity.  So you can have total lock down to just your closest friends and family, but you'll soon find that public sharing is the most interesting.

  • Remember when you said that you'd never get a cell phone?  Now look at the world.  Social media is the same process, soon it will be come assumed.  In most work situations, it is assumed that you have some savvy with social media for communicating with customers and peers.

  • Social media is not for everybody: Only 10-20% are deeply involved and they tend to be the cultural influencers and trendsetters.  These active social media users then distribute the information through word of mouth.  Look at how Twitter is sharing news quicker than CNN now.  So, just find a few friends who spend a lot of time in social media, and 'follow' them.
Check out Jeremiah Owyang's blog about this topic.

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