Leadership Austin – AH! Baby Boomers
“insert pic of persons age 44-62″ :)
Last weekend Thom Singer invited me to be apart of a panel. The topic was Boomers and how they will be affecting the Austin area. Here are some things I took away:
- There needs to be an app that shows everyone (people my age especially) a time line of their life. down to saying, “this is when your parents will die and this is when you will die…” This sounds kinda drag but it’s important stuff to know and think about. We need to be thinking about what were going to do to take care of out parents and/or close friends. Unless we think about these things now, we’re bound to be unprepared. I think this can be done with a web or facebook app. – I lots of ideas about this that I’ll spare you.
- When asked where they want to retire, the majority of the Boomers in the room said in a community of others like them… it was the “we’ll be old ladies together” line. “Grow old on the porch swing,” kinda thing. There needs to be a way to connect
these peopleboomers. My take was they need to be better educated in technology so they can use social media to find each other, see who their neighbors are. The joke here was “Geriatricbook.” Also, if something like this was to exist it cannot be termed a social network. That phrase is ingrained in everyone’s minds as a kids toy. grrr - The conversation was purposefully broad. There absolutely needs to be more talk about this and it needs to be done with statistics, demographics, all the breaks downs on the board. People were talking from their own bubbles, their own experiences – the percentages need to be put on the board and it needs to be determined how one side can help the other.
Thanks again for the invite Thom. And thanks Jon.
Jon Lebkowsky 9:59 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
Comments on your comments (speaking as a boomer as well as a social web guy)…
Of course, you can’t really guess at a time line for the major life-events, but you can figure out what the events are, and you can create a context for sort of journaling how you might respond. OTOH nothing could have prepared me for some of the changes in my life, especially the death of parents and the 2000 Internet crash (which slammed my life pretty hard). But I could have done a much better job of preparing, especially financially. If you want to talk more about this, you know where to find me.
You seem to assume that boomers aren’t connecting online, and I’m not sure that’s a valid assumption. They’re connecting like crazy… and they’re not necessarily going to want to hang out with other boomers as a matter of course. Maybe it’s better to forget age, forget retirement, and if anything create usable resources for people of any age who want to learn more about the Internet.
Might be something the Pew Internet and American Life project has tackled or will tackle. I have a friend there, I’ll check.
Julie Gomoll 10:54 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
John, John, John. Those folks in the picture? They are not boomers. They are parents of boomers. I’m 45 – at the tail end, technically, of the boomer generation.
“There needs to be a way to connect these people”? Hello! We’re perfectly capable of using the same tools you are. (And really… “these people?”)
Half the people at the last Jelly I attended were boomers. Your friends at LaunchPad Coworking, and notanmba, and geekaustin – we’re all boomers.
Jon Lebkowsky 9:59 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
Comments on your comments (speaking as a boomer as well as a social web guy)…
Of course, you can't really guess at a time line for the major life-events, but you can figure out what the events are, and you can create a context for sort of journaling how you might respond. OTOH nothing could have prepared me for some of the changes in my life, especially the death of parents and the 2000 Internet crash (which slammed my life pretty hard). But I could have done a much better job of preparing, especially financially. If you want to talk more about this, you know where to find me.
You seem to assume that boomers aren't connecting online, and I'm not sure that's a valid assumption. They're connecting like crazy… and they're not necessarily going to want to hang out with other boomers as a matter of course. Maybe it's better to forget age, forget retirement, and if anything create usable resources for people of any age who want to learn more about the Internet.
Might be something the Pew Internet and American Life project has tackled or will tackle. I have a friend there, I'll check.
Julie Gomoll 10:54 am on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
John, John, John. Those folks in the picture? They are not boomers. They are parents of boomers. I'm 45 – at the tail end, technically, of the boomer generation.
“There needs to be a way to connect these people”? Hello! We're perfectly capable of using the same tools you are. (And really… “these people?”)
Half the people at the last Jelly I attended were boomers. Your friends at LaunchPad Coworking, and notanmba, and geekaustin – we're all boomers.
John Erik 1:15 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
oh man. yall are totally right about the picture and “these people”
the picture is the second google image result when you search for “baby boomers” — it seemed to work bc the conversation was so focused on what boomers will want from austin when they reach their 70′s … the panel was trying to determine this (future desires/needs) by looking at their past and present. …and thus i was thinking “people in their 70′s”
i apologize for saying “they” “these people” etc to classify. what is a better way for making these references?
John Erik 1:15 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
oh man. yall are totally right about the picture and “these people”
the picture is the second google image result when you search for “baby boomers” — it seemed to work bc the conversation was so focused on what boomers will want from austin when they reach their 70's … the panel was trying to determine this (future desires/needs) by looking at their past and present. …and thus i was thinking “people in their 70's”
i apologize for saying “they” “these people” etc to classify. what is a better way for making these references?
John Erik 2:44 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
@jonl i can agree that boomers are connecting online more and more – but i’d like to see numbers. i’d also like to see the income distribution of the people. i’d bet it’s the upper middle class on up that are connecting. …really it’s the other groups that need to connect
John Erik 2:44 pm on April 8, 2008 Permalink |
@jonl i can agree that boomers are connecting online more and more – but i'd like to see numbers. i'd also like to see the income distribution of the people. i'd bet it's the upper middle class on up that are connecting. …really it's the other groups that need to connect
Julie Gomoll 9:17 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink |
Thanks for the improved picture :)
While it’s true that, as a rule, older = less tech savvy, assuming a whole generation (or two) needs different tools isn’t a very useful assumption. The differential isn’t age, it’s whether people are online or offline. So a more relevant question is “how can we help people who aren’t online connect?”
Someone did a Twitter poll recently asking everyone’s age – I believe the median age was 37. Not scientific, and not boomers, but it certainly shows it’s more than a “kid thing”.
re: the “these people” thing… there’s not a doubt in my mind you were trying to be helpful. Turn that into “you people” though – What do You People [blacks, women, gays, liberals... the list goes on] want? It’s a way to classify a big group of people as something other than the norm, which of course is straight, white, and male.
I’ve owned the domain youpeople.com for years. Perhaps I should bring it online and have this discussion there :)
Julie Gomoll 9:17 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink |
Thanks for the improved picture :)
While it's true that, as a rule, older = less tech savvy, assuming a whole generation (or two) needs different tools isn't a very useful assumption. The differential isn't age, it's whether people are online or offline. So a more relevant question is “how can we help people who aren't online connect?”
Someone did a Twitter poll recently asking everyone's age – I believe the median age was 37. Not scientific, and not boomers, but it certainly shows it's more than a “kid thing”.
re: the “these people” thing… there's not a doubt in my mind you were trying to be helpful. Turn that into “you people” though – What do You People [blacks, women, gays, liberals... the list goes on] want? It's a way to classify a big group of people as something other than the norm, which of course is straight, white, and male.
I've owned the domain youpeople.com for years. Perhaps I should bring it online and have this discussion there :)
Jon Lebkowsky 10:39 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink |
One of my colleagues, Susannah Fox, is with the Pew Internet and American Life project. She wrote a report in 2005 that’s relevant:
http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/Fox_Aging_2005.pdf
Most recent Pew demographics are here:
http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo_2.15.08.htm
Those are high-level numbers, but the show 72% adoption in the 50-64 age group – boomers – and 37% adoption of 65 – those born before the baby boom. Pretty high rate of adoption by boomers.
If you look at the figures for income, you have 61% adoption at the lowest level and it scales up from there. The digital divide is still there, and it’s a complex issue to address. I spent a lot of time working with community networks, and there’s all kinds of issues that keep people offline. Some of them just don’t want to go there… but they’ll do it if they have a compelling reason. Otherwise, why should they? So one important question to consider is whether people don’t have access actually want it.
People with more income have more access, but I think you have to be nuanced in the assumptions you make about those figures.
The next Bootstrap Web isn’t programmed yet. Maybe we should make it a discussion of digital divide and adoption.
Jon Lebkowsky 10:39 am on April 9, 2008 Permalink |
One of my colleagues, Susannah Fox, is with the Pew Internet and American Life project. She wrote a report in 2005 that's relevant:
http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/Fox_Aging_2005.pdf
Most recent Pew demographics are here:
http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo_2.1…
Those are high-level numbers, but the show 72% adoption in the 50-64 age group – boomers – and 37% adoption of 65 – those born before the baby boom. Pretty high rate of adoption by boomers.
If you look at the figures for income, you have 61% adoption at the lowest level and it scales up from there. The digital divide is still there, and it's a complex issue to address. I spent a lot of time working with community networks, and there's all kinds of issues that keep people offline. Some of them just don't want to go there… but they'll do it if they have a compelling reason. Otherwise, why should they? So one important question to consider is whether people don't have access actually want it.
People with more income have more access, but I think you have to be nuanced in the assumptions you make about those figures.
The next Bootstrap Web isn't programmed yet. Maybe we should make it a discussion of digital divide and adoption.
John Erik 12:55 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink |
julie, i think youpeople.com should be a faceroll – you should take photos of all the people you meet and know. a random face will appear with every refresh. you could even have a one liner under their photo about why you love that person.
jon, the kind of questions that can be answered by cross referencing Pew’s various results are beautiful. i love data like this. austin could extract and apply this knowledge to their “boomers” efforts. who is using this data and what are they doing with it. hmmmm
thanks so much for your comments and opinions, folks. YOU ROCK
John Erik 12:55 am on April 10, 2008 Permalink |
julie, i think youpeople.com should be a faceroll – you should take photos of all the people you meet and know. a random face will appear with every refresh. you could even have a one liner under their photo about why you love that person.
jon, the kind of questions that can be answered by cross referencing Pew's various results are beautiful. i love data like this. austin could extract and apply this knowledge to their “boomers” efforts. who is using this data and what are they doing with it. hmmmm
thanks so much for your comments and opinions, folks. YOU ROCK
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