The Dancing with the Stars of Social Media?
in connect, musings, social media by faryl on November 26th, 20084 Comments
close, but no cigar, for Lance
My mom watches “Dancing with the Stars”.

he seems like a nice guy!
Bring up season one’s controversy involving John O’Hurley (J. Peterman, for Seinfeld fans) and Kelly Monaco and she still gets worked up. The lady is into it.
What interests me about this now my mom knows who Lance Bass is. And Joey Fatone. She knows who I am talking about if I mention Adam Corolla. Mom can weigh in on whether Ian Ziering and Mario Lopez seem like nice guys.
Heck, she even knows who Kim Kardashian is now.
But she’s still not clear on what a blog is.
My mom’s still not really sure what “this Facebook thing” is all about and asked me if she should accept a friend’s invite to LinkedIn.
I’m not trying to belittle my mom; nor do I expect her to be savvy to the ways of the world wide web. There’s a generational culture gap there that’s not yet quite been bridged. (I realize this is a generalization and there are exceptions – certainly I have social-media-savvy readers who are on the wiser side of 60 – but I think it’s safe to say, for now, you’re an exception in contrast your peers.)
I wonder if there could be a social media equivalent of Dancing with the Stars. Is there a way to make social media feel relevant to a generation that chose between betamax and VHS for their kids’ hanukah gifts; haven’t quite figured out their fax machines (but still use them over emailing an attachment), and were well into their thirties when they bought their first microwave?

sorry guys
I’m not talking about Eons or networks designed for those who may have a few years on the average myspacer. No Club Penguin for our elders. Not separate but equal.
I’m talking getting a tweet from @mom succinctly complaining in 140 characters or less that @sandy keeps sending her (Lil) Green Patch requests. Seeing she’s added the photos from her recent vacation in Spain to her Facebook profile.
Is it necessary?
I don’t know, but it’s something to think about. It would keep me more connected with my mom, even living on opposite coasts.
Then again, would I tweet as freely knowing my mom might read each one? I think I would.
Which begs the question, would I necessarily want to read everything my mom tweets to her friends? Hmmmn. I’ll get back to you on that!

What do you think?
similar posts you might enjoy
About the author
I love technology, pop culture, animals & ice cream. I'm firmly against mayonnaise, math & meat.Responses to “The Dancing with the Stars of Social Media?”
Trackbacks
-

-
Haiti Earthquake Person FInder
-
recent posts
spotlight
Inside the Bloggers Studio: Chris Blake
Chris Blake is an example of why I love sites like Twitter. I’m not sure how our tweets crossed paths, but I am glad they did. Chris is a talented musician. I love his music, but music reviews are not what I do best. Instead, to give you an idea of why I <3 Chris, I’m “borrowing” from another TV institution. Today’s installment of Inside the Bloggers Studio will be prefaced by my own “Top 10 List”. [click on the star image to read more]
Get LinkToThisPage from the Creative Real Estate Investing Guide.by faryl on January 27th, 2009Inside the Bloggers Studio: Meet Mitch Wagner
I’ll be honest with you. I’d planned to write a riveting mini-bio on today’s featured guest, Mitch Wagner.
See, Mitch is an incredibly interesting guy. It’s only fair to write something incredibly interesting about him then, right?
But Mitch had to go ahead and – *gasp!* – upstage the blogger.
That’s right. You heard me. Upstaged. Me. I can’t compete with Mitch’s answers . Anything I could write would pale in comparison. [click star to read full post]
Get LinkToThisPage from the Creative Real Estate Investing Guide.by faryl on January 22nd, 2009Inside the Bloggers Studio: I only have eyes for Moo!
I’ve previously shared my crush on a blog. Now it’s my turn to share my crush on a company: MOO.
When I first cast my eyes on MOO’s cutesy little StickerBooks – little booklets of vinyl stickers made from your own pictures – I went weak in the knees. [click the star graphic to read more]
Get LinkToThisPage from the Creative Real Estate Investing Guide.by faryl on January 17th, 2009-
recent buzz
Categories
- connect (129)
- blogging (37)
- blogs (36)
- branding (18)
- social media (55)
- twitter (29)
- consume (85)
- apple (9)
- cuteroo (1)
- free stuff (16)
- gadgets (1)
- pop culture (41)
- product reviews (7)
- site reviews (8)
- create (16)
- graphic design (8)
- web design (7)
- etc. (116)
- ADHD (3)
- bloggers studio (5)
- favorites (7)
- humor (30)
- musings (64)
- notable posts (9)
- quotes (6)
- spotlight (13)
- WTF (2)
- connect (129)
what I'm up to- @KayBallard tired & happy too :-) about 15 hours ago from Echofonin reply to KayBallard
- I want these! (via @phillryu) App icon refrigerator magnets: http://bit.ly/a3Ed0u #fb about 15 hours ago from Echofon
Tags
ADHD ads apple Blog blogging blogs branding cats charity chris brogan community connect contests crowd sourcing dad facebook family fearless blogger freebies free stuff Google graphic design humor inside the bloggers studio iphone love memories music musings myspace rants resources site reviews social media spotlight starbucks TED ten questions tv twitter video videos wordpress WTF YouTubemay I suggest:
my addictions:
-

Link to this page



My mom weighed in on the usability of the site's comments on a previous post, but thought it was appropriate to share here as well. Tagging onto her metaphor, it's food for thought:
Becoming familiar with "the blog" is more challenging for those of the generation that still believes, "if it isn't broken, why replace it." Hotmail and Google have become the "comfort foods" of the internet. User-friendly is very important and much appreciated!!
A comment shared via twitter by @amy_l it's interesting. although, really, I find myself having to watch myself a wee bit now that my mom is following my tweets.