The Relationship Between Storytelling, Social Media And Age

We’re working with one particular client which targets an older demographic.

They were convinced the “older crowd” does not participate in social media.

Just for the heck of it, we took five current customers and plugged their names into LinkedIn.

It turns out four of the five had LinkedIn profiles and two of them also had Twitter accounts.

Hardly scientific, but we also shared the Pew research showing folks 50 and older are jumping on the social media bandwagon.

Does age impact how folks embrace social media?

Of course. I suspect Four Square hasn’t made inroads with the 65+ demographic.

Drilling down another level, does age impact how folks blog?

I’ve been thinking about this question since the holiday break. Through weird serendipity, I had the opportunity to interview successful bloggers at both ends of the spectrum.

The interview with Master Swisher who created “Good Morning Geek” at 10 and is now hitting his stride at 12, appeared last month. No question, youth breeds a certain fearlessness.

My interview with Millie Garfield, the 85-year-old voice behind “My Mom’s Blog” will appear next Tuesday. The opportunity to draw from a reservoir of life experiences is tough to match.

Here’s the thing.

After reading the interviews side by side, Max and Millie share more common ground than you might expect.

I hope you tune in on Tuesday.