 |
|
| In This Week's Issue |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Search Southwest Senior |
|
| To Advertise |
|
| About Us |
|
| To Advertise |
|
| Read Our Publications |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Selected Article |
Natalie Eckberg
|  Becky Martinez, 62, remembers easily the first time she heard the terms “Facebook” and “MySpace.”
“My daughter was talking about how she found an old high school friend through Facebook,” she said. “I just couldn’t grasp the concept. I was like: why not just pick up the phone or send an e-mail?”
That was three years ago, and my – how things have changed.
Today, the Eastsider has setup her own Facebook account – and is loving it. Her account helps her keep in touch with her children – two who live outside of El Paso, their families and friends.
“It helps me keep in touch with my grandchildren,” Martinez said. “I love seeing the photos my children post of the kids. It’s so much fun.”
Martinez isn’t alone. According to a study released by the San Francisco-based Continuum Crew in January, the Baby Boomer demographic - defined by the U.S. Census as the generation born between 1946 and 1964 – is increasingly spending less time with traditional media such as magazines and newspapers in favor of social media online.
The survey, a follow-up to the group’s Economic Impact Study released in December 2008, announces the emergence of a new “social media maven” among Baby Boomers.
Compared to the 2008 study, a rapid increase in one year from 38 percent to 62 percent stating they now spend more time online – carving away time from traditional media. Baby Boomers are catching up with Generation X in terms of social networking usage.
How they are using the Internet, however, varies.
“One big takeaway from our research is that Boomers and older consumers use online and social media for utility rather than entertainment,” said Lori Bitter, President of the Continuum Crew. “Younger generations are using the Internet and social media for more fun things like gaming. Boomers are more into email and picture sharing. They are using the Internet as more of a tool than their younger counterparts.”
The study also indicated that not all Boomers consume media in the same way - the biggest gap being between older and younger Boomers.
“We found that older Boomers – mid 60s and up – behave more like the Ike generation (those born between 1934 and 1945),” said Bitter. “The younger Boomers are behaving more like Generation X. Those are the social media mavens – they are truly amped up on this style of media.”
It is estimated that 14 percent of the Boomer population qualifies as social media mavens.
“We identified three very different types of media consumers among older adults – those that spend five to six hours a day connecting using more than one type of media; people who were more isolated – using more traditional, comfortable methods and those that were insular, spending very little time on any kind of media,” Bitter said. “We found that people in the Boomer population who are connected online are also those who are connected offline. They tend to be active overall.”
And those that are connected are very attached to their media, according to survey results.
Among all media services listed, Boomers were least willing to give up the Internet, versus the top response of the 2008 survey: their cell phone.
The significance of this report, said Bitter, is to learn exactly who these new social media mavens are, why they use these social media tools and how this differs from other generations.
“They aren’t who you think,” she said. “And, they have been largely ignored. In developing media strategies, many (companies) are not recognizing that the Boomers have a presence and they are definitely not meeting them there. ”
Not a smart tactic, said Bitter, when one considers that Boomers outspend other generations by an estimated $400 billion each year on consumer goods and services.
“I think corporations often think that if they build it, they will come,” she continued. “They are writing off this older consumer because they think that if they create a media campaign that appeals to someone over the age of 50, they will age the rest of the brand.”
The solution? To create an “ageless” campaign that will appeal to different generations.
“It’s important to make it personal,” said Bitter. “Advertising has always used stories to attract consumers. If it is a great brand and uses strategies that are evocative and resonate, those stories will attract younger and older consumers.”
Martinez, who identifies herself as “a Boomer who just didn’t get it,” agrees.
“Facebook? I figured that was something for kids,” she said. “It wasn’t until I realized that there was actually something for me in there that I understood its pull.”
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail swsenior@elpasoinc.com
|
|
|
| return to front page
|
|
|
