Lillian Teaches Us New Social Tricks

In the past we have written about Ivy Bean who died at 104 earlier this year. She wass a very active user of twitter with tens of thousands of friends who shared her every thought. Now we read about another centenarian, who it is claimed, is the oldest Faceboook user.

Lillian Lowe, uses Facebook to communicate with a few dozen friends but since she was dubbed Facebook’s oldest user she has been inundated with friendship requests from around the world. Lillian, a retired hotelier and businesswoman from Tenby, is only 103 and uses the service twice a week to keep up to date with family. She said she has heard of Twitter but does not know what it is.

The social world of twitter and Facebook may be seen by many as belonging to the young generation but it is clear that they offer new opportunities for the older generation to communicate with people they can’t get to see. It is certainly something that social groups should note and is a clear way of helping people to keep their brains active, friendships alive and create new communities.

Well done Lillian.

Social Networks Grow Up

What do we really know about the use of the technology we now take for granted and part of everyday life. Who uses Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, SMS, Blogs and what drives their usage?

An interesting article in the New Your Times raises many questions about the user demographics and use of this new communication world.

New technology often is first adopted by the young and then permeates to the older generations and we assume the young drive adoption of technology. According to comScore, today’s new ‘must do’ service Twitter, has a demographic that consists of only 11% of its users being teenagers. It appears that Twitter may have buck the trend. We have already reported on Ivy Bean who twitters and is 103!

What is becoming evident is that the older generations that are driving the real growth of social networks today. Today teenagers only account for 14% of MySpace and 9% of Facebook and we doubt very many use Linkedin. Forrester Research have issued a report that claims that the use of social networks by people aged 35 to 54 grew 60% in the last year.

So we have to now understand what people use these sites for and how and what they communicate.

Is the drive in older users merely a ‘catch up’ and a need to be hip, or is it driven by wider social aspects such as the need to belong to communities, find kindred spirits and express views? Teenagers tend to be more social and live in school and social communities, often with a wide range of friends and communicate on a one to one basis. However, this is often not the case of older generations who now have the opportunity to connect with others they may have never met otherwise.

One would assume that the older generations would be more concerned about privacy and having their feelings, thoughts openly available to what some may say are total strangers, but a look at many members pages shows a willingness to share and express.

If social networking services are to be part of the publishing marketing mix these demographics and social needs need to be understood and not assumed. What will drive the older audience? What is the key to engage with them? Does it require a tight vertical perspective or interest which will probably demand more than just books, or can it survive on a generalist pitch and book alone? We see the re-emergence of the social network sites BookRabbit and Sellstudentsstuff.com and we ask what is different this time?

You Are Never Too Old

Who said that the technology and digital revolution was only for the young? When Ivy Bean heard that a 97 year ago French woman was the oldest member of Facebook she decided to join. She soon attracted 5,000 friends and has 17,775 people waiting to be her friend. Unless you know someone older, Ivy from Bradford is now the oldest Facebook member at 103 years old and has now joined Twitter and already has 9500 followers!

Her daughter Sandra Logan, 61, said: "It has given her a new lease of life and she has met some marvellous people all over the world. She speaks to a woman in Norway who has named a cow after her."

Her latest twitters read :
‘hello im going to spend my morning reading papers ‘, ‘i have now reached 5,000 followers so im saying goodnight for today be back tomorrow thank you everybody ‘, ‘had a loverly afternoon with my friends here at hillside just had tea just having a chat with the staff.’

The PC may have past many of the older generation by and been seen by them as a mere expensive toy, the mobile may be viewed by many as a complex phone and only used as a phone, email may dominate our lives but unless you have others to email its not essential. Now thanks to new high-speed broadband connection in public libraries, thousands of pensioners are now able to only to join Ivy and learn new ways to communicate. This older group may now have found the way to start to be engaged in the digital world and influence its direction.

They may not have the disposable income but they have the time, a wealth of knowledge and experience and are historically heavy readers. Many may want to capture their own history and experiences, not necessarily for money but as a legacy, others to just find new friends. It is relatively easy to see many social communities develop that were not possible a few years ago.

Is it possible that we may start to see a shift, not only the source of content for the self publishing market, but also to break away from the current vanity publishing business models that may be seen to exploit vanity, more than encourage writing. We don’t need long works and these new tools demand shorter more focused content. Maybe it’s the older generation that will lead us to rethink the book in a digital form.

Well done Ivy and long may you enjoy twittering