December 31, 2007Facebook connecting multi generational families? |
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My friend, Pete Sealey, sent the below email to me and other friends of his looking for feedback. My reply to Pete was that I am in complete agreement with him. I have been a Facebook user for a little less than a year now and I have noticed quite a few of my Facebook "Friends" are already doing much of what Pete suggests will be commonplace for families in the future, especially those familes that are geographically spread out. I also believe that as more adults discover and use Facebook, many who had thought about creating their own web site for sharing content and even for managing a small business will find they can do plenty on Facebook without the bother of developing and hosting their own site. I would love to hear from you and get your thoughts on these phenomena.
- Jim Garrity
When my friend Marco della Cava of USA Today asked me to comment on what I feel will be a significant trend in 2008, I was quick to suggest the “maturing” of the user base of the social networks such as Facebook will be very important:
"In the 1950s, multiple generations lived if not with each other then certainly in the same town. Today, that model is dead, and sites like Facebook are essentially a replacement for that nuclear family," says Peter Sealey, a longtime tech-industry marketing adviser and founder of The Sausalito Group.
"Adults will turn to these sites to ask three questions of their loved ones: How are you? Where are you? And what are you doing?" he says. "The conversation on these social networking sites will flow between kids, parents and seniors."
Sealey says the increasing pace of everyday life makes the once simple act of picking up a phone to see what book a friend has read seem time-consuming.
"With social networking sites, you can tell friends what movie you've just seen or find out that your mother is going to be playing bridge for the day, seamlessly and efficiently," he says. "As the Wi-Fi network grows nationally, this is the way we'll stay in touch."
I would welcome your reaction to this position.
For the full article, appearing in USA Today on Monday December 31, see the attached PDF file.
Pete
By Marco della Cava, USA TODAY Next year, our friends in China will be feting the Year of the Rat. We'll have no such luxury. Here in the USA, it'll be the Year of Getting Real. Or so says a brain trust of marketers, activists and cultural anthropologists who live to dissect our shopping, eating, viewing, networking and lifestyle habits. The coming 366 days — yes, it's a leap year — promise to be rife with drama, considering the Hollywood shutdown, the real estate downturn and a scrappy upcoming election. In reaction, they predict, we'll be all about avoiding artifice and affectation and embracing the tangible and practical. Here are seven back-to-basics shifts to look forward to in 2008: Social networking 2.0 So far, the bulk of the hoopla surrounding MySpace and Facebook has focused on kids connecting with kids. But the coming year will see social networking expropriated like never before by Mom and Dad as they push to make more efficient use of their time as well as stay in touch with their aging parents. "In the 1950s, multiple generations lived if not with each other then certainly in the same town. Today, that model is dead, and sites like Facebook are essentially a replacement for that nuclear family," says Peter Sealey, a longtime tech-industry marketing adviser and founder of The Sausalito Group. "Adults will turn to these sites to ask three questions of their loved ones: How are you? Where are you? And what are you doing?" he says. "The conversation on these social networking sites will flow between kids, parents and seniors." Sealey says the increasing pace of everyday life makes the once simple act of picking up a phone to see what book a friend has read seem time-consuming. "With social networking sites, you can tell friends what movie you've just seen or find out that your mother is going to be playing bridge for the day, seamlessly and efficiently," he says. "As the Wi-Fi network grows nationally, this is the way we'll stay in touch."
Get real: People will want to connect in 2008
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Comments
This posting compels me to relate a Web 2.0 close-call. A couple of months ago my son called to inform us that he had gotten engaged. Good timing for him as I was about to go on-line where I would have seen the Facebook update from his fiancee who had just updated her relationship status!
The recent stack of Christmas cards related so many pieces of relationship news. Births, deaths, marriages, divorces, new jobs. This may be a tradition in decline.
So when will Facebook include a 'Deceased' status and who sets it? Do we need a proxy assignment for this? When do we see the first Will contested because of evidence from a social networking site? Laywers...start your engines!
Posted by: Len Hause
It seems inevitable that social networking will become a major player in the way people of all ages communicate. For families, our family has been using myfamily.com for several years. It's oh so easy to keep up on what's happening with other family members. But along with the convenience comes a great concern - are we losing the ability to communicate in a more genteel manner? Pleasantries and graceful speech are easily left behind in the digital world.
Posted by: Ron Hayes
