New Media Denial
Yes, change is happening at an absurdly rapid rate. And I find that many of my Boomer colleagues and friends are suffering from Cenophobia.
I have always been an early adopter of new trends and technologies -- in fashion, life, and business -- experimenting with and learning about lots of them and then abandoning or ignoring those that didn't "feel" right (like leopard capri print leggings) or those that I could probably live eithout (like Tivo).
Social media and mobile technology have had a profound impact on my generation. Some of us are slowly but surely "figuring it out" and finding great uses for it in life and business. Others fall into one of the profiles listed below.
Ostrichizers: People who bury their heads in the sand and hope it will all go away. They may have graduated from a rotary phone to a cell phone and a VCR to a DVD player, but that's where it ended. They continually mourn "the old days." They are likely to still have Nehru jackets in their closets.
Poo-poo-ers: They often say things like "This stuff is all stupid...it doesn't work...who would ever want that?" (But they don't really know what "this stuff" is.)
Mr./Ms. Popularity: Demonstrates his/her embracing of technology by making thousands of online friends, downloading apps constantly, and generally trying a little too hard to "fit in."
The Socially Awkward: This is a variation of the above group. They are fumbling around, making a noble effort to master the media. But they can sometimes be overly-aggressive or over-eager and wind up "de-friended."
New technology is not the answer to every question. But it has enabled me to grow my business, re-connect with long-lost relatives, and wish friends a happy birthday (because I can now keep track of when their birthdays are). New media can actually humanize, rather than de-humanize us! I rely on my Gen-Y and Echo-Boomer colleagues to keep me out of the last two categories, but I'm sure I sometimes let my social media "Mom Genes" show.
Let's face it. The realities are quite simple...technology will keep on moving...faster than ever. We are no longer the only "Boomers." There are now 80 million Echo-Boomers. The Internet has surpassed print as a source of news. And 200 million people are now on Facebook (and 30 percent of the new users are older than 35).
Yeah, I miss the pink Princess phone and my 45s as much as the next Boomer. But I think I have learned to love my Blackberry and iPod almost as much...and can only imagine what's coming next! But you can be sure it will be smaller and seemingly more useless than what came before -- until we can figure out what to do with it!
David Bowie singing Changes (no record player required)
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