Do Midlife Women Really Do Social Networking — Online?

Posted on 19. Sep, 2008 by Karen in Misc

I’ve been toying with Twitter — one of the many online social networking sites.  And it just doesn’t resonate with me.  Now I get Facebook and have posted my profile there.  It seems to be enough for me at this time of life.  But is mono-social networking enough these days? 

If you do social networking, would you mind taking my poll below?  I’m just curious about what women in midlife think and do about this whole new world of building community online.  And if I were proficient at Twittering, I’d “tweet” a thank you back at ya!

 

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7 Responses to “Do Midlife Women Really Do Social Networking — Online?”

  1. b

    19. Sep, 2008

    I have FaceBook, Flickr and MySpace accounts – but ask me if / how often I use them: UH-Uh and Nada. It’s been tough enough to keep current with my blogging!

    However, if YOU’RE braced to further investigate the social networking revolution, I may give all of the above the same ol’ college try…

    A burning question I have for all the above sites is: will people MY AGE (57 yrs.) be Twittering, Flickring, MySpacing, FaceBooking, etc. – so that I might actually be finding like-minded buddies and ‘long losts’ therein?
    Inquiring minds – want to know.

  2. phhhst

    19. Sep, 2008

    Just my blog. And I can hardly keep up with that.

  3. Tina

    19. Sep, 2008

    I use facebook, twitter, and flikr. For the most part, I started using these as a way to keep in touch with my daughter who was away at school and to stalk my boys online to make sure all was well when they were in high school. If I were just looking into social networking today, I don’t know whether I’d use any of them…(I’m 48, kids 24, 22, 20). That said, I think anything that brings women our ages together is a good thing. This stage can be isolating, confusing and lonely.

  4. Becky Lane

    19. Sep, 2008

    My college-aged son is very uncomfortable with me being on facebook now. He thinks it’s weird that I can read the comments all his friends leave on his “wall”, but since he won’t hardly answer emails, it’s a great way to see what’s going on in his life.

  5. Celeste

    20. Sep, 2008

    Karen:

    I am in the legal profession (legal assistant) and a lady with whom I work with uses E-Harmony.com. Well, let’s just say, she had to call the police to have this gentleman stop calling her and that has not even curtailed his pursuits….. kind of frightening. Being in the legal profession kind of makes you more aware than other professions too.

    I personally would not use this type of tool to gain friendships. I do like viewing and responding to your blog basically because I know you are “legitimate” and quite awesome as a matter of fact.

    I am 51 years old and it is kind of amuzing because the 20 somethings seem to be attracted to me….it is kind of funny. I could be their mother. But love is sometimes found in the most unlikely places !

    Be careful with those different dating websites though !

  6. Karen

    22. Sep, 2008

    Wow!! Such great perspectives here on social networking!

    b–love your burning question. I have the same one. I did do a survey on Facebook this past spring and at that time there were almost 600,000 people over the age of 45 on that site. Not a groundswell when you consider our Boomer numbers and the total numbers on Facebook. With that said, people I know have contacted this 57 year old. I think for our age group–it’s getting past the technology first–even though it’s easy to sign up on most of these sites. It’s just not intuitive for us.

    phhhst–I know what you mean. I was out of town last week, did my posts for the week before I left and am now catching up. Blogging can be all-consuming so how do you fit in social networking. I haven’t figured it out.

    Tina–great perspective. Midlife women, with our shrinking circle of family and friends need to find ways to connect and stay connected with one another. Social networking allows us to do that but for many it’s a huge paradigm shift.

    Becky–funny, my son is on Facebook too. But he got on after I did!!! I wrote on his wall when one of the girls he grew up added me as a friend. I confess though, I felt kind of weird looking at his site so I don’t visit often. I’d rather have him still pick up the phone than post on my Facebook wall. Call me old-fashioned.

    Celeste–the online dating sites are a whole subset of social networking. That’s an idea for a post in and of itself. Reading your comment, I wonder what experiences other women would report. Can the Internet handle such revelations :-)

    Thanks everyone for commenting!

    Karen

  7. Cindy

    29. Apr, 2009

    Hello,

    I am Cindy Tsai, a proud student of the University of Texas at Austin, and a research assistant for the University’s Nursing School. Our research team is conducting an Internet survey study on the physical activity attitudes among diverse ethnic groups of American middle-aged women (40-60 Y/O), which is funded by the National Institute of Health.

    We invite you to help us to increase awareness of the importance of women’s opinions and experiences by participating in our study and announcing it to your organization, family, and friends. Please visit our website and post its link (http://mapa.nur.utexas.edu) on your website, announce our study through your newsletter, or forward it to your members. We know that all women will benefit from participation in our study. With more participation, the more complete our data will be.

    The survey will begin by asking you a series of eligibility questions. If the study has filled our sampling quota for an individual with your characteristics you will receive a kind message that states so. Upon completion of the survey, you will be invited to join the optional online forum discussion. Sorry, but we are unable to translate the survey into any other language except English, hopefully this does not discourage anyone.

    Plus! Each participant will be rewarded a $10 gift card for the Internet survey and a $50 gift card for the online forum discussion (6 months).

    Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about our study. Thank you so much for considering this study. Sorry for any duplicate emails.
    Have a great day!

    Cindy Tsai, Research Assistant, e-mail: cindyt86@gmail.com
    Bok Im Lee, PhD, MPH, RN, Project Coordinator, email: mizbil@hotmail.com
    Eun-Ok Im, RN, FAAN, PhD, Professor, e-mail: eim@mail.utexas.edu

    School of Nursing, University of Texas at Austin
    1700 Red River, Austin, TX 78701
    Phone: (512) 475-6352

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