The Pendulum is Swinging

Isn't it fascinating that all of your friends in their 30s, 40s and 50s have suddenly come out of the woodwork and embraced social networking such as Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn? I firmly believe that there is a pendulum effect at work here. Social attitudes and cultural acceptance follow a rather predictable swing from being all about the one, to being all about the group, over a course of time throughout histroy. This theory is well documented in the book Generations by Strauss & Howe. This dictates many things, including your marketing strategies and the tailoring thereof to arrive at maximum benefit based at which point of the swing we are at.

You see, the kids are always the one to culturally embrace the new; the newest music genre, the latest fashion, and emerging technologies. So it's no wonder that what started with the kids a few years back has now blossomed into use by their parents and even grandparents. And now we're on to the business applications of social networking and thus completing the full acceptance of the new, by the old(er).