The Best Reasons Baby Boomers Must Start Using Social Media
So you’re a baby boomer. And you’ve been avoiding social media despite having a website, and spending inordinate amounts of time online, especially on Facebook. You want to continue using printed documents, but you’d also like to learn something about social media. But where can you start? Where should you start? And do you really have to use social media? In my opinion, yes. You should. And here’s why.
Your Peers Are Online
Not everyone is online, but more and more of your peers are. They’re sharing photos and stories on Facebook, for instance. They’re doing research online, making larger purchases from Amazon, and selling things on EBay. They may not be using Snapchat or Twitter, but you’d be surprised how many of them are on LinkedIn. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that Boomers spend more time than 16-32 year-olds on social media, according to this article on How Baby Boomers Use Social Media.
Your Peers Are Active Yet Use Social Media Differently
Boomers are becoming increasingly active online, but how they use social media differs from Millennials and others online. Their identity isn’t tied up with how many followers they have (or other vanity metrics), as much as some younger internet users are, according to this Forbes article: How The Boomers Differ From Everybody In Their Approach To Online Privacy And Security.
In addition, you might like these articles about Boomers and social media:
- Baby Boomers and Social Media
- Baby Boomers: Social Media 101
- Time Management for Baby Boomers: Managing Social Media
Social Media Isn’t a Trend
Remember back when everyone got a cell phone “just for emergencies”? And then slowly, parents were forced to use their phones to keep in touch with their kids? Me, too. Those were the same people who said that social media was a trend. Guess what? It’s not a trend. That was over ten years ago. Social media is here to stay. Here’s a handy infographic: How Baby Boomers Use Social Media that you might like. Hint: Take a look at how people 50+ have increased their usage of social media during the past 12 years.
Don’t Get Left Behind
Do you need some coaching on how to use social media? I’d be happy to talk to you about it. Or take over research, posting, and engagement for your business. Because it’s about time to take a leap and start using social media to connect and engage with others or for yourself or your business! Really.
Hi Carol,
As a Boomer, I’m so glad I started long ago. You are so right. I started on Twitter back in 2009, when I was trying to sell my photography on stock photo sites. I had no idea what I doing but read through posts all over the internet trying to understand and participate correctly.
Soon after family convinced me that I needed a Facebook profile and I was off to explore more social media.
I’m so glad I got into it back then even though I initially stumbled along.
Regards,
Patricia
Hi Patricia,
You know what you’re doing, too! I love the way you share, engage, and comment all over the place. A lot of us (me, included) experiment and see what happens. You never know who you’ll meet, and what they’ll need.
I’m glad your family convinced you, too, because otherwise we never would’ve met!
Thanks for stopping in!
Carol