Social Media: A Tool For All Ages

Everyone loves to have that red notification pop-up on their screen when they log into their Facebook account. So when I saw I had two new friend requests on the upper-left corner of my computer screen, I was excited. But the excitement fell, because as I clicked on it I realized it was my grandparents. Not just one grandparent, it was both my grandma and my grandpa. I hesitated to accept; why were my eighty-year old grandparents on Facebook? It was bad enough my mom, my aunts and uncles had become my Facebook friends. But now my grandparents’ request to be my friend online was on a whole new level of strange!

As I looked on their pages, I saw that they were not only members of the social networking site, but also actively involved with posting pictures, playing games, and talking with their other grandchildren. I discovered firsthand that Social Media is not only a place for young adults – it’s a way to connect for all ages. Some companies may choose to ignore what has happened recently: the surge of not only 30-somethings joining social media sites, but also the middle aged and senior Internet users as well. It’s important for companies to recognize the power social media has – not only over young people, but all those engaged online.

Online users are checking in multiple times a day with social media, not only on our laptops, but on our cell phones, tablets, and soon even our televisions. And for as many Farmville requests I’m now getting from my grandmother, I’m actually starting to believe that she may be on Facebook even more often than I am! Advertisers want to reach as many people as possible, and they want to be in front of people often. By becoming involved in social media, a business can reach thousands of in-market buyers across ALL age groups. By simply creating a Facebook page, for free, businesses have the opportunity to achieve both goals.

What other type of advertisement medium can reach almost anyone, any age, anywhere? Social media is definitely getting there, and any business on Facebook has the opportunity to reach a range of people, including a twenty-one year old college student AND her eighty-year old grandmother.

Written by:Melissa Mathews Montrose Auto Group Intern