Social Media and Baby Boomers

I’m a boomer … a baby boomer. You know, one of the 78 million babies born between 1946 and 1964. For the most part, my clients are boomers too. They didn’t grow up with the internet and for many of them the notion of social networking makes their hair stand up. To borrow a term used by veteran blogger and social media guru, Chris Brogan, they are not “digital natives“. To them, blogging, Facebook and social media in general is a second language. And frankly, its a bit like a second language to me too. But I’ve been immersed in the online culture for years and have become pretty fluent in this language. Indeed much of what I do for my clients is translating the language of social media into words and concepts they can understand.

WHY DO I NEED IT

In the past few years I have heard the same question over and over from my clients. Why do I need Facebook? Who cares if I just walked the dog, went to the store, have a headache, have a great recipe for chicken soup? … understandable questions from a generation that covets privacy above all things. But it’s about business now …serious business. And if you’re in business, you either get on the train or get run over by it. Consider this:

• If Facebook were a country, it would be the 8th most populated in the world
• According to a September, 2008 (that’s almost 3 years ago folks) Cone, Business in Social Media Study, 93% of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media.
• 85% of social media users believe that a company should go further than just having a presence on social sites and should also INTERACT!
• According to Facebook, the number of Facebook users grew 144.9% from 2009 to 2010
• The 55+ audience (there go those boomers again) grew a whopping 922.7% in 2009
• According to the Nielsen 2010 Media Fact Sheet, Facebook reaches 56% of the active U.S. internet universe with an average usage of 6 hours per month per user
• Facebook is the #3 site visited by users 65 and older

Get the point? Wait, there’s more. How about this from BusinessWeek, February 19, 2009:

“For companies, resistance to social media is futile. Millions of people are creating content for the social Web. Your competitors are already there. Your customers have been there for a long time. If your business isn’t putting itself out there, it ought to be.”

So to businesses that are still squeamish about jumping into the social media pool, know this. You don’t have to like it, you don’t have to want it, you may not even have to understand it. You DO need to know that your customers like it, want it, understand it and EXPECT it! ”

WHICH BLACKSMITH ARE YOU?

During the early days of the Industrial Revolution, as new Model T cars were rolling off the assembly lines in Detroit, blacksmiths became justifiably concerned about their future. Some believed this new fangled invention, the horseless carriage, would never catch on and that their jobs would be safe. They were wrong! Others saw the power of the wave coming towards them and reinvented themselves. So which blacksmith are you?

Let’s start the conversation.