Sunday 25 November 2012

Engaging Baby Boomers and Seniors through Social Media

Baby Boomers (post WW II; 1946 - 1955, or 1966 in Canada.) After the vets came home, there was a population boom. These are people with pensions, work histories, and women who began to work as a matter of choice or necessity, outside their homes.

You know the myths, that seniors are not on-line, and don't use computers!

This slide show, below, does provide some insight for those youngsters who think we don't know a mouse from a mole!
What bothers me is that we are not the target audience for many advertisers, despite being pretty sedentary evenings, unlike our younger folks.
We have the disposable income to spend, yet they do not target TV or radio shows to our generation.

I began using computers at work in 1989! My late mother, born 1945, learned to use a computer at work, when she was 40 years old, in order to publish their weekly newsletter for the Rotary Club of Toronto. I was so proud of her!

My friends in long-term care use them. A skill they learned in their 80s and 90s!

My late Aunt Lillian (Forsyth), Uncle Fred,
Marion, who died at age 16 in the 40s.
'Timmie is down the well!'


This slideshow is a publication of AARP, American Association of Retired Persons, which is a US-based lobby group. They survive on big bucks from those of us with disposable income.
The Canadian equivalent, CARP, does similar lobbying here in Canada.


2 comments:

Judy said...

I have not thought of those old test patterns in so many years...

Powell River Books said...

As a Boomer, I sort of grew up with computers (at least during my working life). Not so my mother's generation. While some seniors are able to adopt and adapt to computers and other tech devices, my mom just couldn't feel confident enough to give it a try. We tried e-mail and photos, but even those two items were a huge challenge for her. I think if she was used to gaming on a computer, her days would be more fun. But trying has been frustrating for both of us. - Margy