Do you Tweet?  Facebook, or catch up on MySpace? According to recent research more than 25% of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.  Additionally, almost half of those surveyed between the ages of 50 and 64 said they’re extremely or very comfortable using the Internet. AARP Chief Communications Officer Kevin Donnellan says “The latest data tells us that more and more, social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50+, and boomers in particular.”

Furthermore, When adults 50+ are looking for news, 40% said they prefer print newspapers and magazines, while 26% responded that they gathered their news through a combination of print and online sources.  Those numbers are dramatically up then they were 5 years ago, when most people relied on print news mediums.

Times are changing how do you stay connected?

It’s a wonderful sometimes scary place out there in the wild world of the internet.  Just when you think you have learned it all by securing the knowledge of what copy and paste means the now there is something else to learn. So today’s topic is social media, it’s a funny phrase and seems so warm and fuzzy; social media, seriously who doesn’t love a good party that must be what it means social right they will be serving cool drinks…right.  Now, so if it’s not a party what does it mean? 

Social Media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.

So let’s talk about what it means to the normal person. Social media is a way you can exchange information in real time. It can be as simple as sharing pictures of the grandkids with your relatives on Facebook to as complex as exchanging information on a blog that is much like a online article.

Wait there’s more, the most important segment of social marketing you need to advantage of is Linkedin.com is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.   So if you happened to be looking for a job….start here Linkedin.com and start networking with companies that are looking for brilliant people just like you!

Baby Boomer and Older Workers are surfing the web and STOP the presses they spend more time online than the average teenager. Your grandparents use the internet for more than email cute picture of their grandkids. It’s time we start looking at this demographic as a major player. Let’s face it they’re not going off into retirement and playing golf and sipping on martinis. However they may be using the internet to make reservations at the club for only the best tee time.

So what exactly are they doing?  Well……..everything shopping, communicating and well socializing with their friends! When they’re not surfing the web for the latest information they’re befriending people on Face book, tweeting the latest rage on Twitter and following the latest trends on blogs.

Baby Boomers and Older Workers:

Regularly use email 94%

Look up health and medical information 71%

Keep up to date on the latest news 70%

Are spending your inheritance on online gaming 47% (You better keep working!)

Managing their finances and banking 59%

Hitting the latest sales as they shop online 71% (highest % among any generational group)

Looking for work on WiserWorker.com

So the lesson here is that you better be taking this demographic seriously and learn from them as they want to teach you what they know!

Source: Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM).

Do you Blog?  Do you Tweet?  Are you LinkedIn?  Do you socialize on Facebook?

Have I just overwhelmed YOU? AM I speaking in another tongue? Well it’s okay… if you don’t know these terms today but you need to learn them…at least make yourself familiar with they mean and how they can make your job search helpful and more importantly successful!

Let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the situation, how they can help YOU. Well here it is…. recruiters frequently search sites of these nature to either look for job seekers or to post open jobs because they are all FREE.  If you can join the millions online you can help yourself right into a job! 

The best way to start is to jump in feet first and play around with the sites…you can’t break anything and heck you might have fun!  Enjoy!

Blog: “is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.”

Twitter: is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers.

LinkedIn: The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection.

Facebook: is a global social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.^[1] Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region.