Seniors and Social Networking

“Being a senior vs. Being Older” was the title of blog we published earlier this year. Translation: You cannot correlate candles on a birthday cake to a willingness or ability to learn, enhance and create new ideas. No better example of this exists than some recent studies on the 50+ demographic and their use of social media:

• According to an AARP’ study on older Americans and the web, 27% of individuals over 50 are now using social media sites. As expected, the study shows the more functional sites (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) as the primary choices of this age group.
• This trend among seniors is bringing more positives than networking. A recent report from the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies found that social media and internet usage have the potential to reduce depression levels in senior citizens by 20% because it allows them to maintain their connections when face-to-face interactions become more difficult.
• According to Inside Facebook, participation by women over 55 on the medium grew by 175.3% between September 2008 and February 2010. Males in the same category follow closely with a 137.8% increase.

While the reasons for this increase are relatively obvious (‘virtual visits’ with family, viewing pictures and videos of grandkids, etc.), for experienced marketing agencies, these statistics serve as the basis of a best practice strategy for reaching out to this demographic, especially because the number will only increase over the next several years. In our next post, we will discuss specific methods for reaching this group the right way.

—

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.