(courtesy of Kantar Media)
On more than one occasion, I’ve looked at my parent’s lives and marvel at every technological advance they have seen. They seen and embraced color TV, super sonic transport, and hybrid cars. Typewriters were chucked into the trash, and a black man was elected president. If nothing else, they watched man walk on the moon. We’ve only seen Felix Baumgartner free fall from the stratosphere.
So why, then, with the invasion of new technology into everyone’s lives (not just the Millennials’) do Baby Boomers refuse to embrace social media? As the infographic points out, those 55+ have almost no social presence on any platform or even know how social media functions. While this is aggravating on multiple levels, what is most shocking is that this is the age group who has the majority for executive leadership and business acumen in this country. So, did the baby boomers just have enough sense to hand over the marketing reigns to their grandchildren, or are these executives part of the rare ~20% who actually know what is going on?
Food for thought.
What an interesting question. I’ve never thought of this in this way before. Social media does seem to be left up to 24-34 year olds with little involvement from the baby boomer generation. Like you said, the boomers endured several waves of mind-blowing technology advances yet they have not harnessed the power of social media. (Some have, but let’s be honest, they’re not the greatest at it.)
Baby boomers grew up in a world where they waited for news by mail, phone calls were a special treat and sometime expensive, and did their banking with checks and personal tellers. The “Now Generation” that we live in seems like it’s almost too fast for the boomers. Now, we want everything instantly available to us and for a generation that is used to waiting, it just doesn’t make sense.
Great insight. Thanks for posting!