Comments on: Social Media, Text Messages, Twitter: A generational divide http://www.sosoft.com/blog/2008/12/28/social-media-text-messages-twitter-the-generational-divide/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:08:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Facebook: Crossing the Dynamism Divide « MetaPlume’s Blog http://www.sosoft.com/blog/2008/12/28/social-media-text-messages-twitter-the-generational-divide/comment-page-1/#comment-450 Facebook: Crossing the Dynamism Divide « MetaPlume’s Blog Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:47:59 +0000 http://www.sosoft.com/blog/?p=101#comment-450 [...] and expectations at work, how the former two use email and the latter use Facebook or how the older generations decry the loss of privacy inherent in Facebooking. All interesting but grist for another day perhaps. The divide I want to examine is about making a [...] [...] and expectations at work, how the former two use email and the latter use Facebook or how the older generations decry the loss of privacy inherent in Facebooking. All interesting but grist for another day perhaps. The divide I want to examine is about making a [...]

]]> By: David Strom http://www.sosoft.com/blog/2008/12/28/social-media-text-messages-twitter-the-generational-divide/comment-page-1/#comment-439 David Strom Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:53:54 +0000 http://www.sosoft.com/blog/?p=101#comment-439 The trick will be to match the tools that we communicate with our customers and audiences as they evolve into these new methods, and to be nimble enough to adjust our message for multiple formats. This was even a plot line on an episode of this week's "Brothers and Sisters" show when a 40-something executive "didn't Twitter and didn't have a Facebook page" for her tech startup. The trick will be to match the tools that we communicate with our customers and audiences as they evolve into these new methods, and to be nimble enough to adjust our message for multiple formats. This was even a plot line on an episode of this week’s “Brothers and Sisters” show when a 40-something executive “didn’t Twitter and didn’t have a Facebook page” for her tech startup.

]]> By: Kathy http://www.sosoft.com/blog/2008/12/28/social-media-text-messages-twitter-the-generational-divide/comment-page-1/#comment-438 Kathy Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:58:36 +0000 http://www.sosoft.com/blog/?p=101#comment-438 Thanks for your Comment, David, and the link to your blog post. As co-owner of a small software company in the behavioral health community, I have found that our users tend to fall at the two extremes of the Consumer Reports/HuffingtonPost continuum. Age is one of the factors that divides; I would venture to guess that gender and role within the organization are two other contributors. Then there is the nerd factor; within the mental health community there are early adopters who are nerd/geek-like in their behaviors no matter their age. I have also found that, the longer we are around, the more our customer base changes. Some of our earliest customers (we have been around since 1985) are retiring or their staff people are doing so and are being replaced by younger folks who are very comfortable with all things Internet. I am sure that movement will continue. Finally, since we are providers of the primary software products that some of our customers use, we educate them about the world of technology. It is possible that they will explore more readily if they are exposed to more information and opportunities to do so. Kathy Peres http://www.sosoft.com Thanks for your Comment, David, and the link to your blog post. As co-owner of a small software company in the behavioral health community, I have found that our users tend to fall at the two extremes of the Consumer Reports/HuffingtonPost continuum. Age is one of the factors that divides; I would venture to guess that gender and role within the organization are two other contributors. Then there is the nerd factor; within the mental health community there are early adopters who are nerd/geek-like in their behaviors no matter their age.

I have also found that, the longer we are around, the more our customer base changes. Some of our earliest customers (we have been around since 1985) are retiring or their staff people are doing so and are being replaced by younger folks who are very comfortable with all things Internet. I am sure that movement will continue. Finally, since we are providers of the primary software products that some of our customers use, we educate them about the world of technology. It is possible that they will explore more readily if they are exposed to more information and opportunities to do so.

Kathy Peres
http://www.sosoft.com

]]> By: David Strom http://www.sosoft.com/blog/2008/12/28/social-media-text-messages-twitter-the-generational-divide/comment-page-1/#comment-437 David Strom Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:17:30 +0000 http://www.sosoft.com/blog/?p=101#comment-437 I recently wrote about this topic with respect to how different generations consume media. I was at a meeting this week that drove home the big generational divide in online and offline media consumption. At the podium was a 20-something CEO of a new venture that is trying to work with new college grads. In the audience were people mostly twice his age of captains of industry. The young CEO was asked what he thought about using content that was similar to the way Consumer Reports rates and compares products. After a pause and a blank look, he said, “I don’t know what you mean, I never heard of that publication.” That got a big laugh from the audience, but his ignorance was genuine. The Q&A continued, and he mentioned a few moments later how he gets a lot of his information from the Web site HuffingtonPost.com. Now it was the moment of being perplexed for the gentlemen sitting next to me, who leaned over to ask me if I have ever heard of such a publication. His ignorance was also the real deal. So where do you stand on the Consumer Reports/HuffingtonPost axis? And more importantly, where do your readers stand as well? How savvy are they with using online media to get their information? You can read more <a href="http://strom.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/the-generational-media-divide/" rel="nofollow">here on my blog post</a>. I recently wrote about this topic with respect to how different generations consume media.

I was at a meeting this week that drove home the big generational divide in online and offline media consumption. At the podium was a 20-something CEO of a new venture that is trying to work with new college grads. In the audience were people mostly twice his age of captains of industry. The young CEO was asked what he thought about using content that was similar to the way Consumer Reports rates and compares products. After a pause and a blank look, he said, “I don’t know what you mean, I never heard of that publication.” That got a big laugh from the audience, but his ignorance was genuine. The Q&A continued, and he mentioned a few moments later how he gets a lot of his information from the Web site HuffingtonPost.com. Now it was the moment of being perplexed for the gentlemen sitting next to me, who leaned over to ask me if I have ever heard of such a publication. His ignorance was also the real deal.
So where do you stand on the Consumer Reports/HuffingtonPost axis? And more importantly, where do your readers stand as well? How savvy are they with using online media to get their information?

You can read more here on my blog post.

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