Some people have the knack for keeping their long distance relationships vital and alive over time. Sadly, apparently I do not. It's not that I don't treasure my friendships. I have had confidants, best friends, soul mates in every city along the way. (And while I believe myself at heart to be a nester, following my and/or Dan's ambitions have often taken precedence, leading us on a series of moves over time.)

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 Bridge clubs and bowling leagues had been replaced by crickets and tumbleweed.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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Marketers of all ages: You can not truly grasp the boomer ethos unless you view the four-disc DVD: “Hiya, Kids: A ‘50’s Saturday Morning.”

Sure, you’ve seen still shots of Howdy Doody—or perhaps snippets of one of the first and most famous of the children’s shows to ever hit the tube. But unless you sit through an entire episode, you will miss many of the nuances that helped form boomers’ outlook on life, our expectations of how things should be, and how amazingly well we’ve both contributed to and adapted to changing times.

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“Are you on Twitter yet?” The question came to me from a fellow boomer, who was part of the in-crowd on the “what’s next” technology frontier.

“Twitter is way cool, but what I’m really into now is Yelp,” I replied.

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It seems despite all the newly baked books and freshly sprung boomer-focused marketing tips, people continue to raise one question: how do we really reach the boomers, particularly boomer women, who make many of their household’s purchasing decisions? Words like “touch points” and “psychographics” are casually thrown about in brainstorms, but often with little headway. For many, the breadth of this demographic is just too daunting.

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By now you are probably aware that the baby boomers are online in droves. Women 55 and older are the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook. They are social networking, sharing photos, and even twittering in an effort to stay connected to their friends and loved ones.

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.