Posts Tagged ‘United States’

There are studies that suggest that older Americans, 55-plus, are less reliant on social networks than most demographic groups. This seems to fly in the face of recent reports that Facebook is rapidly expanding its 50-plus user rolls.

Baby boomers are joining the social networks, but are they being social? There are some indications that they only join for specific reasons, and they don’t participate like younger demographics. Does this mean that social networks fail the Boomer?

No, it just means that Boomers need the networks for different reasons, and they may not have been invited to the right party just yet.

This age group sees Facebook and Skype as tools and not entertainment.. And if the tool doesn’t connect them generationally and historically it is the wrong party.

Generational, in that they want connection to their parents, children and grandchildren. And historically so that they can reach out to people from their past and get “caught up”.

Penny Ireland’s family is so scattered around the world, that Facebook has become the family’s No. 1 way to communicate.

Margaret Brooks, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, joined the site because there was no other place for her to see her grandson’s artwork.

Sarah and I relate to both Penny’s and Margaret’s needs.  We have raised our family, but don’t want to miss out on the great things that are happening in their lives, right now. Boomers want to be able to continue to provide support, even when distance works against their efforts. Facebook provides a place to use the social networking tools in an efficient and pointed way.

Facebook has been growing particularly rapidly amongst people over 45 in the US, with growth of over 165% amongst both men and women 45-54.

And all of these Boomers are beginning to become Seniors Citizens, reaching sixty years old. As the social networks build the tools that older Americans need, they will be inviting even more people into the party. And reaching the Boomers today, with the right social components, will deliver marketers with a well trained, well financed group of customers for many years to come.

Cynthia Edwards, posted the following in an email marketing blog;  “Seniors are a rapidly growing segment in our society, and one of great potential value to marketers. According to the US Census Bureau, in the next five years alone, the population of those over 65 will increase by 40%, from 36.8 million to 51.7 million.  In the U.S., that could add up to 88.5 million people over 65, comprising 20% of the population”.

Facebook does have more active users in the younger demographics, but some of the tools that are associated with this network giant are the perfect fit for the boomers and seniors of tomorrow.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Party hosting is not for the weak or timid. Successful parties are the result of the extraordinary efforts of a committed host.

For any event to succeed, someone steps up and takes on the responsibility to lead. It is amazing that millions of parties actually happen every month, when we measure the effort it takes.

We appreciate the efforts of the host…

There must be a compelling reason that drives a host to be a host. The fact is, the rewards of completing a successful party must outweigh the work, or parties would never happen. The recognition and gratitude of guests push a host to invest their time and resources.

In the end, we are all grateful to our host for putting out the effort on our behalf.

Parties require many tasks that are not visible to the attendees, but yet are on the checklist of any host.

• Guests see the invitation, but the tasks of collecting of the addresses, designing and printing the cards are invisible. The labeling, the sealing of envelopes, the stamp placement and the delivery to the post office are all completed behind the scenes.

• A guest enjoys the venue and decorations, but misses seeing the reservation process, the running of the streamers and the clean-up of the room.

• The cake and the drinks are enjoyed openly, but bakery visits and the punchbowl filling are hidden from view.

Even with this large checklist, a host moves through these tasks knowing that the finished result will reward them with social capital, or just a sense of accomplishment.

We salute the host and pay tribute to the extra effort it takes to provide the party for us.

At PartyWeDo, we stand ready to assist a host in providing a fun party atmosphere, when they decide to host a party online. We are building applications that will expand the opportunities for hosts and hopefully make their job a bit easier. We want family and friends to find a way to make a party work for them, even when distance stops personal attendance. There is no reason that parties cannot be hosted from any computer in any local.

The advancements in internet tools, partnering with committed and willing hosts, will move parties into a new dimension, and we are happy to assist in the process…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

We live just south of were the Oregon Trail ends at the ocean. The trail and its historic trailblazers represent one of the pioneering achievements in American history.  It speaks to the strength and determination of our predecessors, who sacrificed so much to build the west.

Today we can cover the distance that Lewis and Clark spent a lifetime traversing, in mere hours by plane.  These and other pioneers blazed the trail with guts and brawn and laid the foundations of many of our great western cities.

The pioneering responsibility falls upon those who see something in the distance that has never been reached before. The trails aren’t prepared for pioneers, and the route is never clear.  But nevertheless, the pioneers must trudge on, or discovery fails. The investment of time and resource falls upon those who blaze trails for the future to the benefit of all followers.

There are families in the world for which distance is like a great prairie without a trail, or a forest without a clear path.  They long for a trail to closer relationships and a path that leads to better personal connection.

In many ways the pioneers of social networking have carved a passageway for connecting families, separated by distance.  They blazed a trail that has now become the super-highway of interaction over the great divide. Like all pioneers, the internet explorers used guts, determination and vision to lead the way.

In this fast-pasted world of technology, we sometimes forget to thank the modern Lewis & Clark teams that look beyond today and push forward toward the opportunities just out of normal view.

We can thank Amazon for teaching us to shop in places all over the world… eBay for building the bridge to distant sales opportunities… Google for delivering information for us without boundary…  PayPal for surmounting the many trust issues between strangers…  And, Facebook for carving the roadway between family and friends…

As the pioneers on the new path of internet gift-giving, we take heart that others have endured the tough times and have prepared much of the needed infrastructure for this journey.  We thank the internet pioneers that have made our journey easier.

We stand ready to blaze the trail for better gift-giving over any distance.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Here are the details, as advertised in a blog titled, Real Debate Wisconsin: “Our Cheddarsphere Christmas this year party will be on Sunday, January the 3rd, from 2pm until whenever at Papa’s Social Club”

So it seems a group of bloggers gather in a bar to socialize and share in a white elephant gift exchange. And they organize and promote the party online. This is a trend that we see developing as a result of great web communication tools.

This group also gathers to make predictions for the future, while watching a football game and discussing politics. It seems like an eclectic combination of activities, but it seems to work for them.

So in the spirit of the Real Debate party… I predict that online social parties will trend upward in 2010, as people learn that combining social web tools with personal gift giving will work on the internet. Further, I see a day when activities to celebrate birthdays, weddings, graduations and all holidays will find their way into the social networks like Facebook…

We will eventually celebrate using online parties when our team wins a divisional title and the Super Bowl… We will join a party online, when our political candidate gets the vote, and to just play an online white elephant gift party. The future is bright for online parties…. That is what I predict!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

One of the results of a changing economy is what the new austerity has wrought upon the American public. It seems that the trendy “go-go-consumption” trends have turned on a dime and now traditional priorities are winning the day. This is especially true when we discuss the holiday season this year.

A recently released study by Sears, and reported in Marketing Daily suggests that; “Some 90% of those it surveyed say that because of the challenging economy, they are more focused on celebrating family traditions.”

Other studies are suggesting that more than 75% of Americans are realizing that connecting with traditional family activities is what will make them happier during the holidays.

New family traditions are also a high priority, and the Sears study suggests that group gift giving activities like Secret Santa gift exchanges will be a priority this year. Setting spending limits on these gift opportunities is also an important consideration during tight financial times, and the study suggests that 63% of us will do just that. Gift exchange formats also reduce the overall gift purchasing volume needed among the family, saving even more resources.

Some marketers are skeptical that this new traditionalism will have staying power, once the recession is past and better times arrive. But it is possible that the rise in social networks and the fall in expendable income will alter family trends forever.

One trendy industry is going to really benefit from these traditional family leanings. That would be social media, and some web-based mimics which provide traditional experiences for family members. Facebook has positioning itself as the alternative solution to actually driving to Grandmas house for Thanksgiving. Especially for those who can’t afford the fuel this year. Images and comments are not a perfect substitute for the taste of turkey, but at least it is a connection to the traditions of the past. As more learn the systems and find them to be acceptable substitutes, the mimics will become the new traditions for family gathering. Online solutions break down distance constraints and expand the connections far beyond what was possible in Grandma’s confined living room.

The social activities like White Elephant parties or Yankee Swaps can now combine traditional family gift sharing and conversation, without spending money on fuel or travel. These online mimics provide, at least in part, the family feeling that would be lost by not being able to show up in person.

So the economic realities of today are building a desire to reconnect with the traditions of the past, while creating the systems that will become the trends of the future.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

The Christensen’s of McMinnville are not going to get arrested for helping friends and neighbors steal gifts from each other this year. Their family has been stealing from each other in an online white elephant gift party for the last 3-years. Now they are sharing the fun on Facebook, so everyone can start gift swapping this season.

You have probably played one of the White Elephant Gift Exchange, or Yankee Swap games during the holidays in the past. It is the gift party where everyone brings a fun wrapped gift, they put the gifts in a pile and then they take turns opening, stealing and bantering together.

The Christensen’s have figured out a way to mimic this same activity in social online networks, like Facebook. They call their online white elephant party, AlbinoPhant, a party application, hosted on Facebook. The unique thing about AlbinoPhant is that you use real gift images in the game and then those real gifts are delivered to your door after the completion of a party.

AlbinoPhant is just like the traditional gift swap party, and can be played from any Internet connection. This means that family members from all across the country can join the party without leaving their homes. This will be helpful for tight family budgets this year.

White elephant parties allow families to stay connected and share gifts with each other in a lively atmosphere of fun and games. With the enhanced sharing tools on the web, the online version allows more expressive conversation than ever before. A steady stream of AlbinoPhant comments allows party participants the opportunity to post YouTube videos and images to assist in participating in the fun. There are even opportunities to share some of the conversation outside of the party in other social networks, allowing the party atmosphere to spill over to other corners of the web.

The online gift exchange is a labor of love by the Christensen family. Sarah Christensen, a mother of five and grandmother of seven, shares her love of the game by commenting, “When our youngest left home three years ago, we missed our family gift exchange party so much we started doing our party online.” And Bruce Christensen added this comment, “We visited more in 19-days while we were playing, than we do all year, because of this party”.

The Christensen’s hired a team of Facebook developers and other web professionals to take their simple family party and turn it into a fully operational Facebook application. Their entire family loves this game and is thrilled to share it with others.

Their family won’t find themselves in jail this Christmas, but they are excited to be spreading gift thievery and lively banter well beyond Oregon this holiday season by playing AlbinoPhant.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists