Earlier this week, the British woman billed as “the world’s oldest Twitter user”—Ivy Bean—died. She was 104.

Ms. Bean had been active on Twitter (with 53,000+ followers) and Facebook, often posting entries about her daily life and sometimes video. I’m not sure if she did all of this herself, or had help, but the fact that she wanted to become involved on both Twitter and Facebook really says something.

It’s a simple lesson—and an old one at that—but when it comes to technology, perhaps a new one:

You’re never too old to learn something new.

Social media is proving that it is, in fact, for everyone—not just for tech-savvy youth. It connects entire families and has gained popularity as a way for Grandma to see that picture of Junior that was taken five seconds ago at the park. One could easily argue that social media has made people feel more connected; geographically distant or even extended families and friends have a greater presence in each other’s lives if they can keep up with them in real or nearly real-time.

Ms. Bean was not raised on computers, video games, or cell phones. In fact, when she was born—in 1905—people weren’t even using telephones. But she was drawn to social media and by measuring the size of her following, people were drawn to her.

Research has shown that the demographics of social media users might be older than some first thought:  18-34 year olds comprise the largest group of U.S. users on Twitter and the 50+ demographic has nearly the same number of Twitter users as the 13-17 year old demographic (via Quantcast).

Whether they grew up with technology or not, people are using social media and becoming less intimidated by the technology. Once registered, people might find the learning curve to be lower than expected and they get hooked. Besides, who wants to miss an upload of Junior’s first solo attempt at the monkey bars? Not @Grandma.

Erin Boudreau

Tags: age, demographics, Facebook, Ivy Bean, Quantcast, social media, technology, Twitter, users

So much talk these days about social media and how it applies to businesses.

Companies large and small are scrambling to incorporate Twitter and Facebook accounts into their marketing plans—if they haven’t already done so. Some have succeeded in converting tweets into more business, while others are struggling, wondering if the buzz is worth the fuss.

A study released this week by digital marketing agency 360i examines this Twitter business/consumer dynamic. One of the results from 360i: “Only 12% of all marketer tweets demonstrate active dialogue with consumers, signifying that most of them aren’t tapping Twitter’s full potential.”

People use Twitter and Facebook to connect with other people. To have conversations. Advertisements or “hard sells” are a turn off. If you are a company that tweets one-way messages and does not engage in a dialogue with your followers, you’re missing the boat, and potentially the revenue. Your followers might keep following you, but they might not pay  much attention to what you have to say.

In a recent article in a marketing magazine that I read religiously each month, one columnist recommended using an automated tweet service and taking a few hours each month to pre-program a month’s worth of tweets, as a time-saving measure. That’s fine. I use auto-tweet service Twuffer to spread out my tweets and reach different people at different times of the day. But I still sign in to Twitter frequently to see who’s responded to my tweets and I try to reply to as many as possible. I have conversations, not advertisements. Besides, the conversations are much more fun than ads, aren’t they?

Social media is exciting and fun to use because it’s comprised of people conversing in real time. And that’s what it’s all about. Not not one-way messages, but dialogue. Engage your followers in one and they’ll be more likely to listen to your company’s message when you tweet it.

Erin

Tags: business, social media marketing, tweets, Twitter

Some people launch companies. But this feels more like a birth of sorts.

I’d like to announce the birth of TweeParties, Inc., a social media marketing company specializing in creating and hosting unique online events, such as Twitter parties.

TWEET!

My goal is to help businesses engage their customers in real-time through the planning, promotion and execution of social media events. I love social media and marketing. Sites like Twitter and Facebook have unlimited potential for companies to better connect with consumers, build brand awareness and gain exposure in a fun environment. I am excited for the future of social media and excited for TweeParties’ role in it.

This has truly been a labor of love, albeit sometimes a late-night labor of love fueled by Dr. Pepper and corn chips. I have to give credit to my husband, Brian, as the creative mastermind behind the name TweeParties, a take obviously on “Tweet” and “Tea Parties,” which explains why on our web site you will find many birds hanging around and sometimes even in tea cups, hopefully not deciding to leave their “mark” behind on any of them (fingers crossed).

And thanks to the many friends and family members who previewed the site and gave constructive comments and criticisms to work out the bugs! It really does ‘take a village’ to raise a child, in this case, a child having HTML for DNA.

I look forward to hearing from both Twitter party attendees and companies alike. I hope to use this blog as a way to impart information to both entities: party tips and information for partygoers and social media marketing news and helpful information for companies interested in harnessing the power of social networking.

So, “Happy Birthday, TweeParties!” Welcome to the world!

Erin

Tags: advertising, social media marketing, TweeParties, Twitter party