Yesterday I had a phone call from an old friend. She was a bright and bubbly teen, is now an intelligent warm woman, and has had a successful career as a classroom teacher in primary schools. Yet in the conversation I was astounded when it emerged that she doesn’t use email except when absolutely necessary for work, doesn’t know how to attach a photo to an email, and in general avoids technology.
When you have fully embraced technology it becomes an integral part of your life and it becomes difficult to understand how anyone can live a contemporary lifestyle without using the convenience that technology gives you. Despite a lifetime of friendship I felt a generational gulf come between us, where my “online life” was so far removed from her “offline life”.
Peppered throughout our conversation were reminders of the gulf as I translated what I would normally say to friends into language that wouldn’t exclude her ……. “Can you email me the photos or will I look at them on Facebook?” became “Would you print off some photos and post them to me”…….. “I’ll Skype you” became “I’ll ring you at home”.
It felt as if I was speaking with someone much older. Lifelong friendships don’t rely on such superficial things as common interests in technology, but this demonstrated to me how great the gulf is in daily activities, communication practises, even thought processes, between those who have embraced technology and those who haven’t.
Baby Boomers have seen the technology revolution from the perspective of consumers. We were adults, often married with children, by the time we bought our first computer. Those of us who were early adopters carried large brick-sized mobile phones around in the early 90s. We laughed at the concept of “being friends” on Facebook with people we had known forever or not at all. Yet we rapidly embraced the new technologies and made them part of our lives.
The highest rate of uptake on Facebook is the baby boomer generation, with 47% of US Baby Boomers in a 2009 survey reporting that they have a Facebook profile. Think this is an American phenomenon? Think again! Latest figures show that 15% of Australia’s 9,612,400 Facebook users are aged 45 – 64; that’s a staggering 1,441,860 Australian Baby Boomers on Facebook. Watch out now for the new social media wave being adopted by the same demographic.
Lifesmine, a social media platform aimed at baby boomers, has recently reported a 2600% growth. Social media may come and go, but Baby Boomers are online to stay and, just as we have done throughout our lives, our adoption of different technologies and our acceptance of online phenomenon will make a major impact on the success or failure of businesses, social media sites and new technology.
Career Counsellor and Retirement Transition Coach