I don't claim to be a web designer but I have certainly had users want to design software for me when I was a business analyst - tell me what they needed to do their job - nope they couldn't do that - but they could def tell me how to do mine LOL I love not working for anyone but ME !
For those of you who are not Kiwis - a famous ex-PM of our's one Robert Muldoon was famously quoted as saying "every NZer who leaves New Zealand for Australia raises the IQ of both countries" - case made I feel. Though you have to say the guy really was an idiot for turning down the advertising deal with the BBQ company - that would have more than paid for the fine!
Exclusive interview with the AARP: How the 50+ crowd sees geolocation and social media
By Chad Catacchio Follow Chad Catacchio on twitter on August 23rd, 2010
The AARP – one of the largest membership organizations in the United States with 40 million members – has been ratching up its social media efforts over the last six months, and is even evaluating geolocation services for its members, all of which are over 50 years of age.
In an interview with The Next Web last week, the AARP’s Tammy Gordon a senior advisor to the AARP’s Chief Communications Officer told us that about a quarter of the organization’s membership is on Facebook right now, and that’s where they are understandably focusing their efforts.
“Our members are more consumers than producers,” said Gordon when asked about how AARP members use social media. “[Our members] are connecting with their peers through… really robust comment threads, with regular commentors. This wasn’t happening a year ago, and now we have 15,000 people on our Facebook Page – and we expect this number to increase significantly,” said Gordon.
The AARP is “constantly surveying members” about technology use said Gordon. A recent survey on cell phone use clearly found that there are generational difference in how people use their cell phones (see the chart below):
That said, “Our Facebook audience is more inter-generational – connecting with family members helps to lower the barrier of entry [for older people],” said Gordon. “We’re constantly learning and are focused on e-advocacy, building out TV & radio programming on YouTube and mobile platforms. A recent YouTube video had over 75,000 hits for example. Our traditional email people are picking up social media – which allows us to have a more direct connection with our members.”
“AARP.org is integrated with Facebook and Twitter, we have trained all of the state offices to have and run their own FB and Twitter accounts and our Orlando@50+ event will be livestreamed for the first time this year,” said Gordon.
The major concern of social media brings for the AARP according to Gordon is the fear of scams. “We want to be the go-to place for people to both learn about new technology and ways to avoid online scams. For example, when the recent “dislike” scam happened [on Facebook], we immediately let [all of our members] know,” remarked Gordon.
How the AARP views geolocation services
“It’s one more social tool,” said Gordon about social location services. “Loopt, Gowalla, Foursquare, Facebook, are not business imparitives right now, but the opportunities are exciting,” said Gordon. “What’s the business imperative for LBS? If a member goes to a Border’s and finds out there is a promotion to get an AARP discount [that would be interesting for example].”
“The adoption rate [of LBS] in the late 40’s [i.e. age] is higher [than their member base over 50]. Generation X is only a few years away from qualifying for AARP membership. So, we’re prepared to build and actively follow – and have reached out to – all of those [LBS] organizations,” said Gordon.
Regarding Facebook Places, Gordon said that, “Facebook Places may be the key to the 50+ demographic utilizing checkins. Right now, we’re encouraging folks to double check their privacy settings and start experimenting. And no matter which platform or age, for safety, no one should check in at their home address.”
The AARP is working with Bottle Rocket to develop an iOS app that will combine news, member discounts and barcode scanning among other features.
“We plan on trying out some fun things,” Gordon said at the end of the interview.
About the Author
Chad Catacchio
Chad Catacchio is a lead writer at The Next Web. He has held management positions at a number of tech companies in the US, as well as 7 years in China in market research and tech management consulting. Follow him on Twitter @chadcat, or contact through email at chad@thenextweb.com.
Discussion - 2 Comments/Pingbacks RSS feed for comments on this post
ReplyChad,
This is a fascinating interview on providing some insight into the 50+ crowd. I commend AARP’s very smart and forward-thinking strategy to connect more deeply with their audience and expand community through online social tools!
ReplyThanks, I agree that the AARP is taking an excellent approach to both social media and geolocation.
Interesting view on the "oldies" using social media! I've been surprised to see how intergenerational Facebook has become - people who would never consider using a blogging service will use facebook for some reason!
pretty cool photo montages from Europe and WW2 - having been doing a bit of research on Europe this week in preperation for a trip its quite interesting!
OK there are two camps of peple who rank websites: those that believe that social proof is all you need those that believe SEO is all you need. I strongly believe the later - but this is an experiment to see if I can improve the rankings and/or traffic of my Online Passive Income blog using social media with minimal effort
