By guest blogger Gail Ross, psychologist, baby boomer and founder of Boomster.com.
Looking back on the last two decades, we can see a dramatic shift in some of the basic elements of everyday life. Simple things such as the way we communicate and socialize with each other, or how we further our minds with nuggets of knowledge have, for most of us, changed dramatically with the advent of today’s digital technologies. While I used to send handwritten notes and letters, and have extended phone conversations (on a land line!), much of my business and social communications now occur via email. I spend more time on Google than I do in a library, and I frequently buy products straight off the internet.
However, it seems that many of the new technologies are being developed with a younger generation in mind: Facebook was originally limited to those currently in college, cell phones keep getting smaller and smaller, and video games are becoming the most successful and influential entertainment platform. This is not surprising since our children have grown up with the internet and computer technology and are as conversant with it as we are with TVs, fax machines, and copiers. My daughter tells me that her college friends sit in class with their computers open to facebook and IMing their friends. No wonder digital advancements are being made with younger people in mind. On the other hand, my 89 year old mother just asked me how to use a CD player and what is the difference between a DVD and a CD. I guess we boomers are somewhere in between. It seems to me that rather than having to accustom ourselves to sites that have been developed for upcoming generations with different mindsets and interests from ours, that we should have a place that was built from the ground up for us.
Steve Campus and I started Boomster.com, a social network and information site for adults 45+, with the idea of discussing the interests and aspirations of baby boomers, and to have a place where we could connect with each other around topics pertinent to us. From the information side, Boomster contains original articles, audios, and videos, on a wide range of topics from how to start a new business, retrain for a different career, do meaningful volunteering and voluntravel, great, off-the-beaten track trips, and interests, such as golfing and gardening. Also, and most importantly, you can come and interact with people who are in our age group and have similar experiences and interests. We hope you’ll join us at boomster.com. - It’s free. We boomers (oh, I hate that term too) are a dynamic, well-informed, and sophisticated bunch with a lot to offer – why should we have to meet at a site meant for our kids, when we can have our own thing?
Gail Ross is a psychologist and baby boomer. She received her Ph.D from the Development and Personality Program at Harvard University and is on the faculty at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York City. She co-founded Boomster.com with the hopes of creating social networking opportunities and an exciting information platform for people 45+.