Talkin' 'bout My Generation—Baby Boomers and Digital Media
Jamie Carracher, bless his soul, has dedicated much of his time studying the digital media habits of the Baby Boomer generation. His blog Aging Online is all about tech and social media for boomers and the elderly.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think Jamie has some serious creds. He is a former journalist and now works as digital communications counselor on the Digital Public Affairs team at Edelman, D.C.; an impressive title at an equally impressive shop. He is elbow-deep in all sorts of top-notch research and has an excellent handle on the internet behavior of the older set. He is committed to the study of this demographic, and honestly I think he is doing a damn good job. He asks: "How will our online world change when seniors get engaged?"
Good question.
That said, let me first talk about the subtitle of his blog. "Tech & Social Media for Boomers and the Elderly". Hold on there, Jamie... boomers are not going to do well with the association with the elderly. 50? Really? C'mon kids, 50 is the new 40 is the new 30 is the new 20... hell 10 is the new fetus for goodness sake.
Seriously, age is one of those things that has become a sore point for many. It is like we need cerebral botox to prove we are young enough to be involved in the digital world. It is similar to the mom blog market. Young creatives trying to relate to moms in a stereotypical way—think Motrin Moms, for instance. Generalizations can cause some serious alienation.
So, good (not so) ole Jamiee wrote a post for Mashable today – an excellent one, I might add. He gave a balanced review of areas that Baby Boomers are engaging with the digital world. It was nothing earth-shattering and not all that condescending. It was not so much the article that caught my attention, but the comments. He stated on his blog that this one was his fave and I have to agree:
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