I just had read where uboomerutv.com was reinventing itself and making the leap, or so they say, from a second tier social network to a premier social network. My first thought was that a used car company could start selling caddies and a Lexus here and there, but at the end of the day, they are still a used car company.
Thats not to say uboomerutv.com is not goint to make the leap but it does beg 2 questions: 1) what is up with that name? and 2) If Boomers comprise the largest demographic in the world then theoretically your numbers for u-b-o-o-m-e-r-u-t-v.com should rival that right? So 20 million users should not be out of the question.
Ok so there is something wrong here. The first thing is and I’m not underestimating the tech knowledge of the Boomer but all I keep thinking is Homer Simpson reading aloud, “press any key to begin” and then stating, “where is the any key”?.
Boomers do adapt quickly I will give them that, but will they adapt to the previously named website above that I refuse to type any longer? I’m not so sure. They will however go to Facebook and even MySpace, to check out what they have read and heard from just about every major news source on the planet as of late. The problem is and maybe this is where the previously named website that I refuse to type any more comes into play. If they really like 10-30% for instance, of what they saw on Myspace and Facebook, but felt the demo was not just right for them, maybe they will embrace the other boomer sites.
The other question is, what are they doing on these networks. Are they exchanging their favorite music? Looking for “cool widgets”? Looking for Love? Are they into creating their “pages”? There’s where the disconnect is. Facebook and Myspace thrive because of the content managed aspect of their sites and the ownership and freedom that teens and college students take in “their pages”. That aspect does not have the same sex appeal to Boomers.
Boomers want info and want to share info that is relavant to their lives at that moment and beyond. But they also want to be able to share and learn without a huge learning curve. Hey it’s great to have all sorts of cool tools and widgets, but if you’re building it because it worked on MySpace and Facebook, then you have totally missed the boat. So do Boomers know the power of a social network? Yes and No. They know the power of Myspace and Facebook because they heard it so. They don’t know the power of a social network thats geared towards them because of a perceived learning curve and a lack of knowledge and understanding of what it can do for them.
0 Responses to “Do Boomers know the power of a social network?”