At a recent Third Tuesday Toronto meetup, Matt Ingram from the Globe made the joke that talking about social networking sometimes makes you sounds like a 5 year old. Words like script kiddie, Tikiwiki and twitter sound like they were created by kids who still can’t pronounce all their letters. So why is it that adults are the ones who are embracing this social media culture far faster than teens or 20 something’s.
Steve Rubel, SVP, at Edelman Digital had a great post recently about social media demographics. According to the latest Consumer Electronics Usage Survey from Accenture, its baby boomers who are adopting social media platforms (such as facebook, twitter and linked in) the fastest – far outpacing their Gen Y counterparts. Click here for a great chart outlining Accenture’s findings.
It makes sense then, that Matt Ingram and his team at the Globe and Mail have taken a whole hearted approach to social media. They know that their audience is interested, even if they don’t understand exactly how it works. Through their recent policy wikis, Cover It Live events and even a live twitter chat on the idea that ‘people like twitter because they are afraid of death’ the Globe is pushing the envelope in how they deliver the news.