Finally: Social networking sites for adults

The New York Times says, "Older people are sticky." I've always associated stickiness with toddlers, but here's their case: New Social Sites Cater to People of a Certain Age.

Apparently, older people are less fickle than teenagers and college students. I know that's shocking. But people are starting to notice:

Technology investors ... are seeking to capitalize on what investors say may be a profitable characteristic of older Internet users: they are less likely than youngsters to flit from one trendy site to the next....

But there are 78 million boomers -- roughly three times the number of teenagers -- and most of them are Internet users who learned computer skills in the workplace. Indeed, the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34....

Should one of these social networks for grown-ups take off, that will be the place for nonprofits to go. As spiffy as the brand-name social networks are, they'll never be more than peripheral places for fundraising. Because most people don't become meaningful and committed donors until they get older. If you're betting the farm on Facebook, you're probably going to be disappointed.

Here are the social networking sites for grown-ups mentioned in the article. They're all worth a look. In fact, you should register with at least one of them and get a feel for what Facebook or MySpace might be like if populated by adults:

• Boomertown
  
• Boomj
  
• Eons
  
• Maya's Mom
  
• Multiply
  
• Rezoom
  

Technorati Tags: fundraising, social networks

Comments

[tom belford]

When was the last time you heard someone say ... "Let's go to a boomer meeting!"

Age per se is not the basis of an affinity group ... offline or on. Composition of the group is too diverse. Even AARP was built around selling a product ... supplementary health insurance.

Personally, I think these "boomer nets" will die on the vine. Trades are already indicating budget cuts/layoffs.

[Michael]

What these sites seem to lack, at least at a quick glance, is a real international flavour. While my own charity is international, it is not "USian". The thing I love about facebook (which seems to me the most 'mature' of the big three sites) is that it 'feels' a lot more global.

While this may not be relevant to US based charities, there seems to me to be an increasing number of international charities building strong fundraising both online and in the UK