Reality Bites for Social Media

I don’t know the exact number or percentage, but let’s just assume a lot of 30-40 year olds use some form of social media. Most of them are at least using Facebook, This isn’t exactly news (unless you’ve jumped into your Hot Tub Time Machine and set it for 2007).

So why was Corey Haim’s death yesterday not really that big of a deal? Some factors might be that based on his past history, it wasn’t exactly shocking. Or maybe his story is truly a tragic tale, and the internet is a bit more lighthearted. Or maybe a has-been is still a has-been, even in death.

I’d like to throw my theory into the ring…30+ year olds “use” social media, but don’t “utilize” it. What I mean is that good old Generation X (of which I’m a card carrying member) isn’t taking advantage of all that Twitter and its real-time venues have to offer.

Everybody 30-40 knows the Corey Haim movies, and his decades long struggle with drugs. But based on what I noticed from my social network and Twitter’s trending topics, most people just said “RIP Corey” and moved on with their day. From the new stay-at-home moms to the hipsters, there was hardly any ongoing discussion.

For my tiny sliver of the online community, this should’ve been almost Michael Jackson-esque, but it was closer to Tito Jackson-esque. I don’t think it was the story, I think its that the story was targeted to a group that spends a lot of time online but not in a way that’s drastically different than how we used it 5 years ago. Too many of us get our online information from the same websites we ‘ve always used. This is just another way that demonstrates we’re slowly becoming ingrained in our patterns, just like our parents.

If your brand is speaking to this 30-40 year old market, you can definitely reach them online. But be sure to ask yourself whether or not you truly believe they’ll reach back.