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Old People “Get” Social Media — Woodstock Was Social 3-D

June 23, 2008 by Liz Leave a Comment

Grandma Has a Computer

The Living Web

Experience has value.

Every generation thinks they’ve invented the latest deal. I know we did. I know my grandma did too. My dad’s saloon reminds me of what folks do on Twitter everyday.

The value of getting older is that there isn’t much you haven’t seen in some form or other in the years gone by.

Old People Don’t Get Social Media

I caught this statement in a discussion elsewhere. It went something like, “I don’t think people over 40 get social media, whereas kids love it.” Having seen this sentiment mentioned before, I thought I’d express my feelings on the matter.

I’m 50 years old. I get the whole social media gig. It’s like Woodstock on the ‘Net, where people gather together for several minutes, days, weeks, months and years to hang out, talk, share, listen to music, run around naked and slide in the mud.

What social media doesn’t offer people of my generation is face to face communication. It doesn’t let us hold hands, sing or hug. Instead of raising our lighters as a token of respect and homage to those we admire, social media offers voting and “thumbs up” buttons. There’s no thrill there. There’s no rock and roll. Today’s version of social is “read this, read that”, vote on it, follow or unfollow, friend or unfriend, get answers or be completely and utterly ignored even though you know you’re there. . . .

They may never know you showed up. Not only that, to participate, you have to give out personal information and obtain a password. You need to configure settings. Its a lot of work just to hang out with people you don’t even know and annoying as heck when you simply wish to stay in touch with a few you do know. If someone spots you, everybody wants to be your friend.

Pot used to do that too.

— Kim Krause Berg

The entire blog post is a great read.

I know that relationships are where you find them. We’ve talked plenty about that. And I’m not about to give up my social tools, but I think, Kim, has a point about what’s missing from the mix.

They say it takes 10 years to make a VC.
Maybe it takes even longer to make a social media expert.
I wonder where Guy Kawasaki would weigh in on that question.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
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Filed Under: Successful Blog, Tools Tagged With: bc, Boomers, Great-Find, Guy-Kawasaki, Kim Krause Berg, social-media, Woodstock

Boomers, GenY, and Changing the World

May 31, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

A Circle of Our Selves

Change the World!

Recently in his discussion of authenticity, Steve Roessler shared the work of Peter Vajda. One sentence of Dr. Vajda’s echoes to my past.

The kicker for me is that everyone is born authentic.

We used to talk about that idea constantly when I was in college. We’d say that babies were born high on life, then the world slowly knocks it out of them.

Years later as the mom of a son, who was about to go to college himself, I was part of a conversation about the other end of life — how some people get crankier as they get old and others get more generous. I theorized that cranky, old people were trying to defend their right to be on the planet. A wise friend suggested that the answer was simpler — that

as people get old they become more of what they are.

Sounds like a circle doesn’t it? From authentic to authentic — it’s a circle of our selves.

Boomers, GenY, and Changing the World

I’ve read a lot and heard even more about about GenY and Boomers and how far apart we are. They say it’s a problem in the workplace that GenY employees want to IM their Boomer bosses. Magazine and newstalk is of a technology/relationship gap that exists.

The first thing people notice are differences. That doesn’t mean that’s all we’ve got.

When I look at Boomers and GenY I don’t see such a great divide. If we look at who we are below the surface, the picture changes to how much we have in common.

Boomers

I’m a Boomer. During the years that I was at my university, the organized system of fraternities and sororities was at an all time low for membership. Don’t go Greek. Go Freak! was a popular saying. Timothy Leary told us to trust no one over 30. We believed him. The Moody Blues enshrined him in a song. I still can sing it. Most Boomers still know Boomer anthems like that.

We wore jeans that looked just like the ones I see now — dirty, with holes and embroidery — my mom kept asking me to leave them home so she could “wash them” for me. We knew we were going to have an impact on the world as a group. We also invented the idea that our lives should have a soundtrack, and it was deep in our college years that the LOVE sculpture went up in Love Park in Philadelphia.

GenY

My son is GenY. They call him an Echo Boomer because his generation is the largest since the Boomers were born. Wikipedia points out the characteristics that they share.

These individuals typically share moral qualities with their grandparents (usually the G.I. or Greatest Generation). Some of these include the importance of hard work, dedication, and being an effective team member. Most political views of Echo Boomers are shared with their parents (Baby Boomers). This is due to similar presidential tension and the largely opposed war in Iraq. Many of the Echo Boomers have a closer relationship with their Baby Boomer parents and enjoy similar tastes in music and styles. It should be noted that while Echo Boomers are not as rebellious as their parents, they are not shy when it comes to speaking their minds.

When it comes to dreams, no generation seems to be more like the Boomers than this one that’s the largest generation since the Boomers descended on the planet.

The shared dreams are more than the differences. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Other folks have seen it too.

It’s true that Generation Y workers are different — but only to a degree, and not in as many ways as people think.

I recently conducted research that examines the motivations of about 3,500 people. It shows that twentysomethings are no more likely to express lifestyle concerns than workers in their 40s and 50s. In every age group, about the same number of people cite work/life balance as one of their key work motivators.

Though they are separated by age and experience, there’s not much difference today between boomers’ and Gen Y-ers’ outlooks on work/life. —Barbara Moses, Ph.D, is an international speaker, work/life expert, and author

So, the problem is one of communication, not deep-seated motivation. It’s not about differences at work. It’s about working together to make a difference in the world.

As Boomers get back to dreaming again, and GenY gets on to making things happen, isn’t there something important that we’re missing, if we don’t connect? Think of it, the two largest generations with our heads and hearts in the same place. That’s electric. That’s power. Better yet, it’s hope for the future.

What is the first little thing we might do?

We don’t have to stop at talking about changing the world.
We could actually do it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

______________
If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Change the World!.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Boomers, Change-the-World, GenY

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