I was at a speaking gig a few months ago and a participant asked, “How do I reach out to seniors? Most of them aren’t on the Internet.” Although, I don’t necessarily agree that seniors aren’t online (my 85-year-old father-in-law is online more than me), I thought that it was a fair question. Then I discovered Eons.com.
Eons is an online community for baby boomers and it is hoppin’ (and pretty well done.) Users can share photos, blog, keep in touch with family and friends and much more. And even though the most discussed topic is “death”, the community revolves around the celebration of life and fun for seniors.
There are advertising opportunities for businesses and organizations and they serve a large, dynamic community.
If your organization targets seniors, it might be worth it to give Eons.com a look!
I am writing an article about online dating and have been out of the dating scene for about 14 years. Luckily, I have lots of friends that are finding love (or not) online via Match.com, Yahoo, etc. and have a lot of stories that run the gambit from inspiring to just plain weird. I’d love to hear more stories about online dating experiences if anyone would like to share. All names will be confidential. Just ping me if you’d like to share - I’d love to hear all the “details”!! Thanks!!
Posted on Aug 18, 2008 under General Social Media |
A friend of mine is writing an article on Web 3.0. He’s not a tech guy, so I’ve been trying to find a few resources that would help him better understand the concept and how other folks are defining it. Since I am a little swamped today, I’ll leave you these breadcrumbs of thought to tide you over until tomorrow.
I’m considering putting together a social media 101 class for the businesses and non-profits in the metro DC area. If anyone is interested (or thinks its a good idea or better yet - wants to participate as a presenter) please let me know! I’m looking at an October time frame. Thanks!
I have to rant for a few minutes about the whole Facebook - Friends You May Know feature. I can honestly say that out of the dozens of people that pop up in that little box, I’ve known 3 and only been inclined to add 1. Who are these people? Where do they come from? Why does Facebook think that I want to be friends with these strangers? I find it all very odd.
On a happier note - FlogBlog on my Facebook profile is finally updating after months of staleness, so I’m pretty excited about that. However, I just noticed that its not FlogBlog anymore. Now its Simplaris Blogcast. Who knows? At least its working.
Enough ranting. Have a great night!
I am in the process of writing a social marketing plan for GoodDogz.org. We launched our new website about 2 weeks ago and, without any type of promotion, started immediately receiving blog comments, new NING community members, new LinkedIn group members, etc. It was truly amazing to see how quickly the new social aspects of the site snowballed. Adding these tools to a non-profit site was easy, cheap and effective. Here’s what we added:
That’s it. By adding those 4 tools, we were able to quickly gain more interaction with our audience, more interest and ultimately better resources for our users.
The next step is to create a strategy for promoting and using these tools. Although we were lucky enough to have “built it and they came”, a strategic plan is important to not only establish engagement but maintain an audience of loyal users who will come back often and participate in the conversation. More to come on that and I would love to hear the ideas of others on getting the word out.
Chris Brogan is a visionary in the social media space and has compiled this comprehensive list of tool and sites that are great for the beginner (with a few gems for everyone else). Be sure to check out the comments for more great finds. I would add the following sites to his list:
- Eons.com - social community for baby boomers (I’ve found that the question “How do we reach out to 60+ crowd?” comes up a lot.)
- Gather.com - social community for the intellectual set.
- Changents.com - connecting agents of change with backers.
- Change.org - social community for non-profits.
- Idealist.org - community and resources for non-profits.
I will add Chris’s list to my social media tools page. Please feel free to comment and help us add to the list.
I’m on several Listservs on a variety of topics. Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about managing your online persona. How much personal information is too much? How do you control what other folks are posting about you? Should you avoid social media altogether or lock down your profiles so tightly that no one can get information about you?
My take is (and always has been) - if you are going to participate in the social media space, you need to manage your brand (in this case - you name). Social media is just what the name implies - having social interaction within a media (in this case - an online platform). In order to keep your reputation in check, manage your message. Be a real person with real stories, ideas and opinions. Share the YOU that you want people to see. Sure, someone may post a photo of you at a college frat party on Facebook, but, whether you like it or not - that’s part of your life. We’re all humans behaving humanly (Brilliant!)
Now, I completely understand that privacy is an issue and certainly don’t condone posting your social security number on the side of a cargo truck. But, by putting your name, information and what you’re all about out there, it’s much easier to say “Hey - this is me.” It’s also easier to rebut any negative information about you.
In a nutshell, if you put yourself out there, manage your name and let the world know who you are - you build your personal brand, you make new friends and you grow your standing within your space.
Posted on Jul 17, 2008 under General Social Media |
We’re heading downtown in a few to the Twin Tech Party in DC. If you’re going, let me know so we can hook up!
I’ll admit it. I did not run out last Friday and buy an iPhone. I was not disappointed in myself and to date I still don’t feel guilty. I may purchase one in the coming weeks (if I can find one) if for no other reason than - I lost my iPod and need to replace it. So why not buy an iPhone for less money?
For the rest of you peeps out there that got up at the crack of dawn, ran to the Apple store, stood in line for hours and bought an iPhone - this is for you.
Mashable ran a good post giving a run-down on social media apps for the iPhone. I hope this comes in handy!
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Beth consults with businesses and non-profits on social media tool selection and strategy and helps her clients find effective ways to leverage these new mediums to meet business goals.