Social Media for Boomers

The words ‘Facebook’, ‘Twitter’, ‘Blogging’, ‘Wiki’ and ‘Youtube’ might be the cause of some anxiety and confusion for the Baby Boomer generation, but we say - “Don’t fear!” as these online platforms are surprisingly easy to use as hubs of communication for all!

On Tuesday 31 March, in partnership with the Refirement Network, The African Commons Project hosted a workshop targeted at removing some of the mystery around social media for the Baby Boomer generation.

The course provided attendees with a contextual understanding of social network sites and tools, providing examples of how they are being used, why they are so popular and how they can be incorporated into our daily lives.

The course covered the following topics:

Attendees at the Social Media for Boomers course held on 31 March

Attendees of the Social Media for Boomers course held on 31 March

Introduction to Blogging
- A brief history and introduction: What is the ‘read-write’ web?
- Blogging platforms, how to choose and use them.

Introduction to Microblogging
- A brief history and introduction: Blogging in 140 characters
- The rise of Twitter, particularly how Barack Obama used it in his election campaign.

Facebook: The ‘ultimate’ social networking site
- A brief history and introduction: Why Facebook works
- A discussion on privacy issues on Facebook specifically and the internet in general.

Introduction to Wiki’s
- A brief history and introduction: Why do we need collaborative editing?
- Wikipedia and the power of crowd-sourcing: A comparative analysis.

Introduction to Multimedia sharing sites
- A brief history and introduction: You are a content creator
- Flickr and Youtube: Why share online?

If you’re interested in attending a Social Media for Baby Boomers course, please contact Rosanne for more information: or (011) 327 3155