How Baby Boomers Use Social Media

Social Technographics of older and younger Baby Boomers

Above: The Social Technographics of Baby Boomers. Need to understand more about technographic ladder? read this handy key.

I recently published a report on how baby boomers use social technologies based on our social techngraphics research. While my parents aren’t yet on Facebook, you’d be surprised on how their adoption of social media –they aren’t luddites by any means. With the president of the United States using social technologies for campaigning and his ongoing administration, Boomers retiring and wanting to stay in touch with their digitally expressive children and grandchildren, and with a recession causing need for all of us to connect to each other –expect an increase in social technology adoption across many generations.

If you’re a Forrester client, download the full report, or read my discussion with the New York Times. Sarah Perez, who does excellent coverage at Read Write Web has some additional thoughts and provides some suggestions on what it means (be sure to read the comments)

When I saw the data, I was surprised by the social technology adoption of baby boomers, would love to hear your perception and opinion on this.

Update: Some really don’t like the findings and insights, and have extended me a virtual finger, and I’m pretty sure it’s not this one. Finally, someone gets the fact that we’re not banging on boomers, but instead showing that social media extends beyond teens. Thanks Laura.

53 Replies to “How Baby Boomers Use Social Media”

  1. Hi Jeremiah,
    You know, for some reason this week I have had a number of incidents in which I bumped into a very frustrating assumption about baby boomers and their lack of use/understanding/curiosity and very professional use of social media. I am old enough to barely even be a boomer and I have owned a computer since 1985, typed my own dissertation, used email in the 90’s, went to a family reunion organized entirely via email by my uncles who were in their mid-80’s at the time and I could go on and on. While I may be an exception, I still can’t believe that there are not more of us out there who enjoy social media just because it is so interesting, the connections to people and ideas around the world are so fascinating and many of us use these media professionally as well. I am taking a training course to teach online at the college level and the courses I plan to teach will definitely use social media in a variety of ways. I also plan to use social media to search for online teaching positions.
    I guess my point is that who ever is doing the surveys and drawing the conclusions, needs to look more closely at a wider range of babyboomers and, hopefully these stereotypes can be dismissed.
    Thanks for listening – I enjoy the research you do and am glad you have returned to Twitter.
    uberbabyboomer

  2. hi, jeremiah — i love your posts and don’t want to scold, but i’m still a bit disappointed by your continued surprise with these numbers. i think analysts are looking at the wrong data. the watershed event is not the moment of adoption of social media. that’s a comparatively minor event, compared with the seismic switch from non-electronic equipment to computers and LANs in the workplace 25 years ago. that workplace population bought computers for home use…and introduced computers to their children, and so on. what was the age spread of white collar workers in, say, 1984? bring that population forward 25 years and there’s the high end of potential social media users. i don’t think it’s comfort with the medium, but rather relevance of the content that will drive adoption.

  4. Cool blog. I agree, but sometimes it’s annoying when older people say “you sign me up… I don’t get this internet or facebook stuff.”
    Sigh*

  5. What about Gen-X? I think it's interesting how marketers continue to forget about us Xers who turned 40 in 2004, btw.

  7. One other factor overlooked here is the undeniable fact that increasingly more middle-agers have become entrpreneurs. Because of this social networking is essential given it connects all of us with a much bigger target audience than we’re able to potentially attain doing face-to-face marketing.

  8. One other factor overlooked here is the undeniable fact that increasingly more middle-agers have become entrpreneurs. Because of this social networking is essential given it connects all of us with a much bigger target audience than we’re able to potentially attain doing face-to-face marketing.

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