Think social media is just for kids who want to post silly photos of themselves and their friends, or tell everybody where they are and what they’re doing? Well, think again. Social media is here to stay, so you might as well embrace it with open arms.
As a boomer, I was hesitant to start using social media. If I wanted to talk with someone, my phone (a landline, at that) was a perfectly good way to communicate. So when I first signed up for a Facebook account, I stayed in the background and just read what my few friends had to say. Then one day, I decided to comment on a friend’s post. It was a new-found freedom for me. I could share my
opinion with everyone else and if they didn’t want to hear it, I was spared the humiliation of them walking away mid-sentence as could happen if we talked face-to-face. Being on Facebook is like being at a large party with people from all walks of life, talking about everything under the sun. The nice thing is you don’t have to figure out how to disengage yourself from someone you consider a bore.
And you can feel free to immediately join in the interesting conversations. After I got comfortable with commenting on posts and liking items my friends posted, I ventured into the world of groups, pages and places. For an information hoarder like me, it was equivalent of being in information heaven. As I started liking these pages and sharing posts, I learned a great deal about my friends. I can now pretty much predict which of my friends will like a certain post I make or item I share.
As an individual user, I have deliberately kept my Facebook family small. But as a business user my philosophy is the more friends or likes, the better. Suddenly the Facebook world takes on a new meaning. If I owned a restaurant, you bet I would want my customers checking in at my location and posting photos of their food on their Facebook page. If I owned a retail store, having a virtual storefront on Pinterest would be priceless. As a writer, I definitely want my readers to comment on my stories and interact, not only with me but with other readers.
So, as a boomer, I’m quickly embracing social media and learning its value in my world. Like it or not, it’s the way of the future.
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