In 2000, Prof. Robert Putnam released a book that made the headlines, called Bowling Alone, The Collapse and Revival of American Community. In a nutshell, it discusses how Americans have become less connected from family, friends, neighbors and their communities. Bridge clubs and bowling leagues had been replaced by crickets and tumbleweed. We had experienced a loss in “social capital,” or connections among individuals, impoverishing lives and communities. At the core of social capital theory is the idea that social networks have value, both personally and for society as a whole.
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No sooner did Silicon Valley astutely observe and capitalize on this phenomena (and cultural void), birthing wildly popular social networking sites such as Friendster, Facebook and MySpace.com. But even in their social savvy, technology investors missed something that now they are fully waking up to…boomers want online social networks too. And unlike their youthful counterparts, the 42+ will be far less likely to leap frog from one site to another in search of the latest fad. They are “sticky,” according to Matt Richtel in his recent piece “New Social Sites Cater to People of a Certain Age,” and are online in droves (8 out of 10 boomers use the Internet regularly).
They want sites where fellow visitors have longer attention spans, where they can grow a garden of strong and lasting relationships, and discuss everything from their new grandchild, to their old marriage with likeminded individuals going through similar experiences.
We know about Eons and Rezoom …but where are the other players? Is there a “Gramazon.com” to be found? There’s a big wide open space out there still…untouched, wild digital plains where older adults want to mingle. Just clear away the cobwebs, shoe away the crickets and toss out the tumbleweed. They’ll come and they’ll stay for awhile…
Amanda Sobanet