View From the Phlipside Radio - Social Oldies

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

I remember an old Flip Wilson routine.  His character Geraldine Jones would proclaim “When you’re hot you’re hot”.  Well in the world of the social network who is hot just might surprise you.  It surprised me.  And I’m a member of the group that’s hot.

That’s right it’s older folks.  Baby Boomers.  Older Gen X types.  Even among the retired crowd the social networks are having to sit up and pay attention.  In part the reason why the business types are paying attention is because we older folks do something that the young folks don’t.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Young folks are still flocking to the social media sites and they are a huge part of the user group.  On the other hand the largest growth group are us oldsters.  Over 50% of adults over 30 are involved in some kind of social media, like Facebook or LinkedIn.  And for those of us who are over 65 (which lets me out by a fair margin) about a third of that age group are on the social networks.  So the older generation are certainly worth the attention of the media moguls.

The real reason why they are  paying attention is the fact that while we may not be inclined to hit the “Like” button for advertisers we are more likely than the younger generation to actually click on the advertisements.  You can imagine the excitement of the advertisers when they find people who might actually check out their ads rather than clicking on the link that says “See what this girl did when her Father posted on her Facebook page”.  As an aside do yourself a favor.  DON’T click on those links.  They are scams and trying to get your contact info so they can drown you in annoying spam.

Turns out that this could be a big deal.  You see social network sites are now the third most visited category for all internet users.  The younger generation will no doubt be astounded to hear that e-mail is still safely in first place, followed by search engines and then social network.  So a growth in the demographic that actually clicks through (that’s the technical term) on the advertising has to be good news for all.  As usual it looks like the adults will have to pay for the good times of the younger generation.  Ah well.

Call that the View From the Phlipside