So Baby Boomer: Life Tips

Why do boomers read blog postings?

Independent, publicly traded American newspapers have lost forty-two percent of their market value in the past three years, according to the media entrepreneur Alan Mutter.  Few corporations have been punished on Wall Street the way those who dare to invest in the newpaper business have. 

Public trust in newspapers has been slipping at least as quickly as the bottom line.  A recent study published by Sacred Heart University found that fewer than twenty percent of Americans said they could believe "all or most" media reporting, a figure that has fallen from more than twenty-seven percent just five years ago.

"Less than one in five believe what they read in print," the 2007 "State of the News Media" report, issued by the Project for Excellence in Journalism concluded.  Vastly more Americans believe in flying saucers and 9/11 conspiracy theories than believe in the notion of balanced mainstream news media.

Getting what you want to know from blogs

Thirty-nine percent of Internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs.

Most bloggers don't think of what they do as journalism.  37% of bloggers cite "my life and experiences" as the primary topic of their blog.  Politics and government runs a very distant second with 11% citing those issues of public life as the main subject of their blog.  7% are into entertainment-related topics, 6% sports, 5% general news and current events, 5% business, 4% technology, 2% religion, spirituality or faith and 1% each for a special hobby or a health problem/illness.

If you really want to know "what's happening now" searching blogs is the place to go.

Here are my blogs: www.CoachingTip.com  www.SoBabyBoomer.com  www.WhatCanItBe.com

Here are specialty blogs and social network sites that I regularly check out: www.WomanLeadership.com  www.BigHouseBlog.com  www.CareerTips.us.com

65 Million Boomers Online

About 78 million Baby Boomers are living in the United States today, and 65.1 million of them are online. In fact, they account for one third (the largest constituency) of the 195.3 million Internet users in the U.S.

So, what are they doing online?

Regina Lewis, AOL's consumer adviser, dropped by CBS's The Saturday Early Show to answer that question, and to point the way to some Web sites created just for Baby Boomers.

SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR BOOMERS:  Boomers are expected to be the next wave of social networkers: It's hard to find a college student without a MySpace or a FaceBook page. To expand, networking sites are being forced to shift their focus to older users.  Right now, only about 1 million of the more than 215 million social networkers regularly active today are older than 50. But by the end of the year that number could explode to 20 million.

www.eons.com is a free site that has been described as "MySpace for the 50-plus crowd." You do have to be 50-plus to join. The average age of site users is between 50 and 60, with about the same number of men as women. Eons launched about seven months ago and already has more than 100,000 members.  Eons has formed dozens of online groups around the interests of an older crowd, such as Investing, Bookaholics, Boomer Music, etc.  And boomers still like to flirt; one of the most popular groups is: "Internet Dating After 50." 

 

BOOMER SEARCH ENGINE: www.cRANKy.com got its name because the creators say that many older users get cranky when they use more traditional search engines. Launched Jan. 1, this site is run by the same folks who launched Eons.com. 

BOOMER NEWS & TRENDS: www.Boomergirl.com is a new site for "Boomer Babes."  There are some provocative features like advice on sex and relationships and, coming soon, an insomniac's club for women awakened by hot flashes. Other sites that participate in a weekly Blogging Boomers Carnival are: Contemporary Retirement Rearview Mirror  Your Drum  Living Without Borders  Gen Plus  Man-o-pause  The Boomer Chronicles So Baby Boomer and LifeTwo  

BOOMER NOSTALGIA:  www.iRememberJFK.com focuses on the way things used to be, just looking at and reading about the old cars, clothes, food, gadgets, etc. from the '50s and '60s. If you have any of the stuff you see on the site stashed away in your addict, it might inspire you to pull it out. It can be a real hit with collectors. Dust it off and put it on eBay; you might be surprised at what it goes for.

Source: Web Sites for Baby Boomers, www.CBSNews.com, February 17, 2007

Do you blog?

Baby Boomers: Blog for your grandchildren.

It is a fact that Baby Boomers have grandchildren.  Some of you may have lots of grandchildren.  Now is the time to keep connected.  A blog is an easy, low-tech way to stay in touch.

Blogging is a technology that has been available for years, but now it's the hip thing to do.   If you have ever thought of having a travel journal or cooking lessons for your family, this is the way to go.

Doesn't it seem that the grandkids are far more advanced in technology?  They have a language of their own, and they rarely share.  Often, you will find kids on a computer, cell phone or mp3 player.  Catching their attention is difficult and you want to be able to communicate with them.

What would be some reasons to get a blog?

The whole family can visit a blog, anytime.  The pages never go away, so information is not lost.  Blogs are interactive. When you post to your blog, others can comment about that post. Blogs allow photos. 

You can't do all that easily with email.  It may sound technical, but Baby Boomers will find it's as easy as setting up a new email account.

Source: Market Day www.Market-Day.net September 14, 2006