Social media trends: Baby Boomers

Social media trends are producing something for everyone.  From runners to doctors to smurf lovers, the social media trend of niche marketing is encouraging the creation of websites for anyone who can get their hands on a computer with Internet access.  This includes the Baby Boomer generation.  They’ve likely dabbled in Facebook, though it is probably to ‘keep up with’ (read: spy on) their children; not many other otherwise very popular social media websites are trendy with this age group.  (They don’t, for example, report excessive Twitter use).  In fact, most users of this generation report employing Facebook to ‘keep in touch with their kids’ and/or only log on if an email notifies them of activity on their profile page.

But, Baby Boomers are just as relational as the rest of us – it seems that social connection is hard-wired into us as human beings.  It should come as no surprise – taking this and the social media trend of niche marketing into account – then, that there is a site for the Baby Boomer generation explicitly.  A Facebook for Fiftysomethings, About55.com is an online community that, as their web page advertises, “empowers members (people in their target age group of ‘about 55′) to move forward via self-renewal, self-growth and celebration.”

Like Facebook, About55 features a live news feed on its home page, though it does seem to be a bit more relaxed than its constantly updated counterpart.  Members can, like Facebook, develop profiles complete with pictures and as much information as they want about themselves.  Of course (like Facebook), the more information a profile contains, the more likely and quickly members are to find like-minded friends, people who share their interests and build compatible friendships.  There are groups (similar to Facebook’s ‘Causes’), and members can earn points based on how much they update their status messages, how well they put their profile together, and generally how involved they are in the site.

Unlike Facebook, About55′s homepage has a module for recent blog posts which contains articles written by, for, and/or about topics mid-lifers are rumored to care about.  Ironically (or perhaps predictably), About55 does have its own Facebook.  Probably, the Facebook page is to help interested people find About55.com, but midlifers who are on Facebook are probably content with Facebook.

Those that aren’t or who are steering clear of Facebook altogether will probably not be interested in About55, either, since it is much the same, at least in terms of the reasons Baby Boomers might give for avoiding Facebook in the first place.  Privacy is always an issue online, and so, the less a user posts online, the less likely privacy is to be invaded.  At least the social media trend of niche forming is all-inclusive.

Photo Credit: About55.com

Original Source: www.justmeans.com/Social-media-trends-Baby-Boomers/34362.html