Older Adults Face Facebook Mystery
For people older than 35, joining Facebook can be a confusing experience.
Oct. 17, 2007 — -- I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that after reading Newsweek's recent cover story on Facebook (not to mention the news of a possible Microsoft investment that would value the social networking site at a hard-to-believe $10 billion) … I signed up.
The majority of new Facebook members are people over 35 — oldies like me. Still, it's uncool — and supposedly "old school" — to join because of pieces in "old media." And what's the point of joining Facebook if not to be cool?
In my defense, I work in new media, plus I come from a Web-savvy family; my 72-year-old father recently answered the phone saying "Can't talk, in Second Life!" (the online virtual world).
And I'm delighted with my first "friendships." It's great to see people I'd known professionally in a more informal light, with family photos and droll daily updates (who knew an oldie journalist I really admire could recommend new tunes by The Hysterics and Rilo Kiley?).
Less delightful was the reaction of my younger friends. Alex, my 23-year-old consigliere on all things new media, wrote "As one of the first 10,000 users of Facebook, I'm officially uncomfortable with John Pomfret [a respected Washington Post reporter] and Virginia Heffernan [a respected New York Times reporter] … having profiles." He was jokingly referring to some of my new Facebook friends, but here's the point: Young people do feel somewhat uncomfortable with established and "establishment" people, aka "older" people, on their social networking site.
A 20-year-old friend then forwarded me an article called "omg my mom joined facebook!!" Hmm … not so subtle.
So, to all my young friends, let me first say, we're not trying to encroach on your territory. We oldies arguably need ways to stay in touch with each other more than you do. For us, having any social life is a challenge, with kids, workaholism, etc. Already I'm back in touch with friends now living in China, Lebanon and Great Britain. And, like you, we love meeting new friends and networking.
