Social networking comes of (older) age

By Ana Veciana-Suarez

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

MIAMI — Marilyn Carroll used to watch her 28-year-old daughter and her friends spend hours on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. So she decided to join the social networking scene, too — but on a site geared exclusively to her interests.

Carroll, 61, and husband Mel, part-time residents of Surfside, Fla., created a social networking site with their friend, Steve Greenbaum of Aventura, Fla. Using big fonts, easy instructions, a section for jokes and news items for seniors, Genkvetch.com aims to attract older computer users who are interested in connecting with others on the Web.

"I'm a people person and I wanted to meet people," says Carroll, a retired school guidance counselor. "But I also wanted a site for people 50 on up to connect. So many of the others are for the young people."

Genkvetch.com, which Carroll figures has a few thousand visitors a month, joins the growing ranks of senior sites — seniorpeoplemeet.com, seniorocity.com, seniorenquirer.com, eons.com and tbd.com, to name just a few — that want to capture the baby boomer audience and its older brethren. They're doing it by using good old-fashioned marketing techniques: news, products and connections tailored for people who, as Carroll puts it, "can remember LPs and rotary phones."

Even powerhouse advocacy group AARP has gotten into the social networking scene, launching a channel on its website more than a year ago.

"Our first foray was with message boards and chat rooms and we've had those for a while," says Nataki Clarke , director of online marketing for AARP. "But there was a recognition that we needed more. We saw them going to places like Facebook and realized we wanted to capitalize on what AARP was known for."

In the past month alone, the AARP site had 500,000 visitors and about 3 million page views, exceeding the organization's expectations.

Of course, young users still constitute the overwhelming majority of social networkers, but the older generation is warming to the possibilities of connecting on the net. According to Hitwise, an online measurement company, 8.2 percent of adults 55 and older have joined online networks. And those numbers are growing. The percentage of U.S. visits in a four-week period ending on June 9 increased 55 percent from two years ago.

Facebook and MySpace remain the most popular sites, followed by AOL Community, Classmates.com and MyLife.com But social networking observers say it won't be long before the senior set moves on to sites that cater specifically to their interests, a natural fragmentation in the evolution of the Web.

At tbd.com, users can sign on for "Boot Camps," free workshops on subjects such as writing or dating. Users not only get expert advice, they can also interact with each other. Robin Wolaner , founder and CEO of tbd.com, started Parenting magazine back in 1985 and now calls tbd.com a "post-parenting option." Most tbd.com users are in their 40s and 50s.

From Wolaner: "Tbd is like a neighborhood barbecue. You might not know the people at the party, but it's fun, safe and filled with people like you. Our members may also have Facebook accounts — not so much MySpace — but they find tbd more welcoming."

Sandra Gewirtz , 66, is typical of older social networkers. Her grandchildren begged her to join Facebook, but she visits genkvetch.com instead because it has topics of interest to her.

"It's an excellent site and very easy to use, so I recommend it to my friends," says Gewirtz of Surfside. "It's like a come-together place for people like me because it has a lot of things I like, a good living section and good reviews. You can't find that on Facebook."

While teens use social networking sites to plan parties and check in with friends, older networkers want to do more than set up a profile and leave a comment on a wall. They want to find new friends who share similar interests.

"We're finding out that users are more interested in, 'How can I talk to people who are going through the same things I am or are interested in the same topics I am,' than just posting some general comment," says Clarke of AARP. "I think it's a natural progression. Boomers and seniors first joined to see what their kids and grandkids were doing online, but now they want to communicate with old friends and find other like-minded people."

To wit: AARP's social networking channel just had a weight loss challenge that proved popular. A group of Eons.com friends went on a cruise to Alaska together. Steve Greenbaum , who runs genkvetch.com, says the reviews and humor section have proven to be the most popular among members.

"What makes us different" from the bigger and better-known social networking sites, Greenbaum adds, "is that we have interesting content. We want to be more relevant than just having an instant update."

While some senior networking sites don't offer content, those that do display theirs prominently. SeniorEnquirer.com, launched in May for the 60-plus crowd, works like a digital newspaper. Under the health setting recently, a member could click on "Aging" and find articles on dementia, cognitive functions and other age-related topics.

"Facebook can get boring pretty quickly," says George Ruch , the 69-year-old CEO and publisher of seniorenquirer.com. "But on our site you can get world news, health news. You can even put in your ZIP code and get your local news and weather."

Those features, he adds, are in addition to the traditional social networking capability to send, receive and post comments and photos.

The habits of the older social networkers don't surprise AARP's Clarke. "This audience consumes a lot of news," she adds. "They're interested in many subjects and now they're encouraged by the media outlets to actually follow stories on Twitter and Facebook."

Social networking also has had a surprising upside for older users who may live alone and not get out as much: an easy way to make friends and connections at a time when old connections are fading — perhaps a spouse has died or neighbors have moved away.

Even on tbd.com, whose members skew younger, Wolaner says the site has "many members who are homebound and have found friendship on tbd. We have also seen the community support members facing health issues, loss of family members" and other midlife milestones.

In the end, social networking may turn out to be the virtual world's answer to dominoes and bridge games. "It's helping them feel more connected," Clarke adds. "And that can only help."

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