I believe every geek in the world has tried to explain what social media is to someone who just doesn't get it.
What does it take to embrace social media and other new technology, hardware and software?
Most of it has to do with age. I have taught people in my family, church, and business on how to use a computer, laptop, ipod, facebook, twitter, etc. Here is what I have discovered.
Anyone under 50 is open to new technology. That's because those people are the first gamers of our time. Your 40 - 50 year old people were around for pong, pac man, atari, defender, etc. They are the generation that is still playing games and will always play games until they die. So this age range is open to new stuff, just for that reason. I did however find that they are more open to gadgets then to internet media. The get their news from the internet, but they aren't that excited about social media.
Anyone over 50 is going to be your hardest age to convince to use social media. I have many people in my life that just say, "What is Twitter?" or "Why would you want anyone following you?"
That would be okay if the people 50 and above were not running our workplaces. We want our companies to use Yammer, and Twitter, and for the company to have a Facebook page and an intranet. Unfortunately, the CEOs of today are in that 50 and above range. So your task is to convince them how it works and why.
Here is what me and some others have done to jump that hurdle.
My pastor is Pastor Shane Womack of Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim. He is an amazing pastor. He reminds me of the pastor from 7th Heaven. He has a lovely wife and five kids. OUCH!
Anyway, he is from the old school of thought and he is the first to admit it. He doesn't like emails. He writes all his sermons out with pen and paper. The toaster in my kitchen has more technology than the computer in his office.
I remember one day Pastor Shane was trying to scroll through his emails and it wasn't scrolling. Then a HUGE RED VIRUS WARNING popped up on his screen. So he turned the computer off. It was classic! He didn't worry about it and he didn't care. I wish I was more like him in that way, but sooner or later that virus will need to be dealt with at some point. :-)
Pastor Shane allowed us do something that was very cutting edge. He let us film him on the canon XHA1 HD camera, broadcast him live, and post his videos up on http://kacclive.blip.tv.
In the first few days those 5 videos had been seen over 500 times. In the first week it was over 700 times. When I told Pastor Shane, he was very pleased and maybe even a little surprised.
The point I am making is that you can't explain to someone why social media works. You have to show them. If your boss isn't embracing technology, then take the time to set it up and demonstrate it to him/her. All ages of people can understand visual results. The numbers are staggering when you use the internet correctly.
Don't get discouraged. If it's that important to get someone to embrace new technology, then show them. By the way, my mom is on the iMac and my dad has his first iPod. The are both in their 60's. God Bless them.
