facebook after forty

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on January 12th, 2011 at 07:30 AM | 3 comments | | Tweet

Take a lesson from the youngsters. Be who you are in the digital world. At least a little more.

Today, whilst doing my usual digital recon so I know what to blog about, I came across a new kid on the block, Quora.  And when I say kid, I mean it.  Take a gander at their “team” page.  Yikes! 

I have nothing against youth.  Especially when it comes to computers.  Anyone 25 or younger cut their teeth on technology.  But speaking from the generation whose only college computer offering was something called Fortran—the 8-track of computer languages (or maybe even, the reel-to-reel?), technology is not intuitive to me. 

For an old broad, I was a relatively early adopter of Facebook, and social media in general.  This has to do with my line of work (duh!), but also, because summing up visuals with a smattering of words has always made a lot of sense to me.  Like my childhood heroine, Harriet (The Spy), I frequently took notes on what I observed.  I sketched, scribbled, ruminated and wrote my whole literate life.

Many boomers and nearly-boomers have really enjoyed the access Facebook gives them to their kids, friends, grandkids and other relatives—it’s like getting that Christmas newsletter every day!  (Does anyone send studio portrait photos anymore?  I would imagine the incidence has declined quite a bit).  But these same folk who use Facebook daily in their personal lives, have a hard time making the leap when it comes to their businesses.  They worry about mixing casual banter with professional discretion.  It’s like those two sides of a person are mutually exclusive—they don’t like to hang out in the same room.

There is a middle ground, however, and I have to say, young people are way better at it than us over-40s.  (Okay, maybe not while they’re still playing beer pong.)  I’m talking about using voice and personality to set tone—to distinguish your brand, to communicate with clients or potential clients in a human, rather than boilerplate, way.

I always appreciate a business website that doesn’t have the word “solutions” on it. Or one that doesn’t shove biz-speak cliches down your throat.  I appreciate getting a hint of the culture of the organization.  And so it is with social media. 

No, you probably shouldn’t post tmi deets on your business facebook, but I’m leaning towards erring on the side of color and tone, rather than blank slate. Besides attracting more interesting clients, it’s a lot more fun!

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