Social software sites have noticed that there are a lot of baby boomers out there, and that they are not as flighty as the normal targeted younger customer. The article "The Graying of the Internet" - New York Times, 9/12/2007, points out that there are 78 million boomers. That is about three times the number of teenagers. Are they Internet users? Yes, most are. The estimate is that the number of Internet users over 55 is about equal to the number of Internet users between the age of 18 and 34. The boomers have some other interesting traits. They are willing to use social software sites, but not necessarily interested in the same topics as teenagers. They are also more likely to find a service or site that they like and stick with it rather than just flitting from fad to fad.
So what? As we look to deliver services through the web, we often worry about how that service will be received by the younger generation like students who are clearly consumers of our services. How do we look at services we design for employee consumption? How many of our employees fall into the boomer classification in number, life style and behavior? We need to roll out cohesive collaborative and community offerings, and we are working on that. To what extent should we be thinking of the demographics of our target audience, and do we have a feel for what success will look like in their eyes? I don't have the answers to those questions, but I believe we should spend some time thinking about the questions anyhow.