I would have certainly not submitted an English essay to Mr. Leonard Heinz, English teacher during my sojourn at San Francisco’s Archbishop Riordan High School, because “fuss-nomena” is not even in the dictionary!
But, it is certainly true that among high school, college students and recent graduates the phenomena of a Web 2.0, social media networking site called Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) site has created a stir if not a fuss as to how a growing population segment communicates today.
What happened to the telephone? You mean the smart-phones like Apple’s “iPhone” or Verizon’s “Blackberry Storm” that not only communicate voice but also allow a user to transmit Facebook status updates?
Simply put, Facebook is today’s malt shop or to use a more resonant analogy, the Riordan Cafeteria. I couldn’t wait for lunch period to chow down Mrs. Arazave’s famous grilled polish sausage on sourdough and hang out with my buddies. Some went to the library, others to the outdoor basketball hoops, but the cafeteria was where it was at!
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury”…Facebook is where it is at and not only for the Gen Xr’s, or Nexters’; but us “seasoned” guys.
Why should I bother?
Can you afford not to bother?
As I scribe this article, more and more of us are facing a pink slip, think about facing a pink slip and mostly worry about facing a pink slip a lot. If you can afford to not have on-line connections, because your social and professional network is so rich that you do not have to worry about a automatic job interview, then “Good For You!” Congratulations!!
But most of us have lost touch with many dear friends from high school, college, and our former employer. Remember the days of one’s identity being grounded in the fact you were from the old neighborhood?
Joining Facebook puts you back in touch, even if only to see what is happening in your friend’s life.
While it can be a challenge to schedule any and every high school or college alumni event , let Facebook be your “Cafeteria”.
It’s easy! Just register and type your high school, college or former employer’s name in the search box.
Pass the fries!
Originally appeared on BB Creative, San Francisco site by Carlos R. Hernandez, “BizTech Savvy Boomer”.
If you are looking for web sites and news about or by boomers, Alltop is a great place to start.
From my quick scan, there are 78 listed currently. No shortage of reading!
There is a wide variety of topics. If you are thinking of starting a blog on a particular topic about boomers, it would make sense to have a look through the list on Alltop, just to see what is there already.
Not that you shouldn’t start a site if someone else has already started writing on your topic. If you have special expertise or a particular angle – and don’t we all, in one way or another? – don’t be put off by the fact that someone is writing about something similar.
This Boomer Connections site focuses on how Baby Boomers – the generation born between 1946 and 1964 – are impacting and being impacted by the world of social networking and social media.
Choosing a name was a bit of a challenge. No, Boomer Connections is not a dating site. It’s a site about how the Boomers are the fastest growing group on social networks – at least in the West – and what that can mean for career management and business opportunities.
The site had its genesis back in November 2007 at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, where I met a very genial, very savvy San Franciscan, Carlos R Hernandez, who was at the expo and conference to learn all he could about social media. Since then, Carlos and I have been for most of the time separated by the Pacific Ocean, but in a continuing conversation, mainly courtesy of Skype and email, about ways to show interested companies and individuals how to use social media effectively. Carlos’ particular focus is on the Baby Boomers.
For a while I thought this was not of great direct interest to me, more of an interesting mission Carlos was engaged in, to help Baby Boomers get over their indifference to social media or anxiety about it, or both, and learn to use it effectively for their career advancement and the enhancement of their businesses. Not that I was not interested in the general topic: on the contrary. Just that I hadn’t focused on the Boomers.
Much too gradually it dawned on me that Carlos was in fact just ahead of the thundering herd, otherwise known affectionately as Baby Boomers, who had been in the past such a boon to so many marketers and were about to shake, rattle and roll again, this time in the field of social media and social networking. I’d known about the Boomers historically, with Mustang cars and all the rest. Just hadn’t joined the dots.
Which is all very timely, because, a few months ago Carlos and I started talking about putting together a proposal for a workshop session for BlogWorld Expo 09, this coming October.
We were very fortunate to have two very smart women, Toby Bloomberg and Barbara Rozgonyi, respected practitioners in the social media space, agree to join our venture.
In a half hour session on Toby’s online radio program Diva Marketing Talks, the four of us shared some perspectives on the Boomers and social media and announced to the world our intention to submit a proposal for a “rock the house” panel session on the topic at BlogWorld & New Media Expo this year. You can listen to the session on the player below or on BlogTalkRadio where in the program notes Toby asks the tantalizing question “will the Woodstock generation be as open to naked conversations as they were to dancing in the rain sans clothes?”
As we go along, we will share the links that we are gathering for information about the Boomers and social media and we are keen to discover what others think about how we should tackle the topic, what we need to know about, case studies, the good and bad aspects of the whole deal. Yes, we are into crowdsourcing!
We believe we have lots to share. We know we have lots to learn.
So hit us with your ideas and suggestions. Let’s have a conversation here.