Social networking sites take notice of seniors - International Herald Tribune-
By Joe CarusoDigital Divide: I'm friendly with people of all ages and have great conversations with them. Age is never a factor nor should it be. I learn from people older than me and younger than me. When I was younger I had a few friends that were a good deal older than me, but we still had something in common (music) and that's what was important. Online socializing removes generation gaps, at least it used to. Unfortunately, there seems to be a trend for age segregation in online communities. Sites like Eon and Boomertown are sprouting up that are helping to divide the online community into neat little segments.
In our day-to-day lives, it's harder to associate with mixed age groups. This is why I like the social network Twitter. It doesn't matter what age you are; you can be friends with anybody. I look at social networking like digital neighborhoods. In the real world, a neighborhood consists of all different people. Young, old and everything in between.
The only reason some of these social networks are age-centric is because of marketing. When a magazine caters to a specific demographic it makes it easier to market products and services. But a social network is not like a magazine, or at least it shouldn't be. I like to live in a diverse neighborhood with a mixed demographic both on and off-line.
Age discrimination exists on all sides. There are plenty of young people who have something against older people. And there are some older people who do not want to mingle with young people. I think it comes down to fear and stupidity. Some young people are scared of getting older.
Older people that have problems with young people are perhaps bitter that they are no longer young and can't do some of the things they used to do. Even the creator of FaceBook Mark Zuckerberg came out and said " Younger People Are Smarter" , he's not proving it with a comment like that. Again, social platforms like Twitter do not place emphasis on age. It's pure expression. Sometime intelligent, sometimes funny and always somewhat interesting. Is it socially acceptable to discriminate over age? What would happen if social networks are created for race? I hope this doesn't happen. Technology should makes us come together, not divide us. With all the great progress this country has made with integrating people of all races and religions, to have it all turned around by a few knuckleheads in technology with nothing more than greed on their mind would be a travesty. Since younger people are creating these networks, the responsibility is on them.
One of the main reasons I became interested in new media and alternative news sources was because of the "Divide & Conquer" mindset of the mainstream media. Politics is the greatest example of this. Most Americans want the same things in life, yet the media and politicians have created a societal chasm that is destroying America. I don't want the same thing happen to our online environment.
post by carusoimaging
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