Holiday Social Media Tips for Baby Boomers

With the holiday season upon us, more and more people are looking for ways to connect with loved ones and old friends if they can't be with them in person. Social media sites like Facebook have seen an influx of baby boomers in recent years and with the holiday season here, more and more of us are looking for ways to connect with loved ones and old friends if we can't be with them in person.

While it's wonderful to use social media to make connections, it can have a downside. Here are holiday social media tips to keep you relatively safe:

1) Do not make public announcements about where you're going. No one needs to know you're leaving your home to go away to visit your children in another state. As a matter of fact, no one ever needs to know when you leave your home because that means it could be unattended and an open invitation to thieves.

2) Don't tell people where you are. On Twitter, people are known to post where they are while they're there. Once again, that's an open invitation to burglars.

3) Don't announce your shopping expenditures. Why brag that you've spent several hundred dollars on Christmas gifts this year? That's a signal that you HAVE money and could become a target for a robbery---or something far worse.

4) Advise your children and grandchildren not to go public with your business. While the family may be excited that you're coming to visit, it isn't necessary to put the information on their Facebook page or "tweet" about it. You don't know who they're connected to that might be interested in such information.

5) Finally, don't click on links from people you don't know. People may try to send you a holiday greeting in disguise---which could actually contain a nasty virus. You may be connected to the friend of a friend of a friend but if you don't know they personally, don't click on the link. Instead, just go their page and post a personal greeting and thank them for thinking of you. If they didn't post the link, you'll be doing them a huge favor.

By following these tips, baby boomers, their families and friends can enjoy the holidays and stay safe at the same time.

Baby Boomers Don't Read Blogs

I'm a baby boomer and I write blogs. As a matter of fact, I have more than one active blog. I also read blogs written by fellow boomers but, according to the latest research, I am in the MINORITY because the majority of baby boomers don't read blogs. The study claims the number of blog reader/writers is below 10%. Although 49% of boomers use online reviews and recommendations on a retailer’s site to make their purchase, only 9% looked to other blogs or communities for recommendations.

Another interesting statistic involves Twitter. The study also showed that Twitter is not very popular with us boomers either---only 10 percent of us are "tweeting."

Meanwhile, Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Boomers and Social Media” says about 47% of online boomers maintain a profile on at least one social network, and Facebook was, by far, the most popular with 73 percent of boomers maintaining a profile.

So what do you think of this study? Is it pretty much on the money or totally off base? Also, if you are a baby boomer with a blog, please post it here.

Jesus on Twitter?

When I saw this headline the other day: What Would Jesus Tweet?---it immediately caught my attention. I went on to read the article---which was one preacher's take on using social media to spread the Word of God.

Since Twitter has become all the rave, more and more people are coming up with interesting ways to tie the social media site to their own agenda. But I do think connecting Jesus to Twitter is over the top. Asking what would Jesus tweet means every time we write 140 characters, we should ask ourselves if this is a message Jesus would put out there. Would Jesus be an IN YOUR FACE kind of person or would those spiritual tweets be redundant messages full of love and inspiration? What would Jesus tweet to us baby boomers? WWJT

I am connected to several pastors on Twitter and Facebook because I want to be. I do appreciate the inspirational messages they put forth. I also like to see that they're real human beings and not some self-absorbed, I can do no wrong man or woman of God on their self-made pedestal.

So what do you think? Does using social networking tools put the gospel message at risk? Can anything of real and lasting value come from technology that limits information to a mere 140 characters?

To read the entire article What Would Jesus Tweet click on the blog title.