Filed under: B2B, The Elements & Total Plastics | Tags: B2B, Baby Boomers, business, facebook, history, Internet, social networks, Technology
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Timeline of internet from Baby Boomer perspective
My wife and I went out to dinner last weekend and while waiting for our table, we enjoyed a drink at the bar. While sitting there, my wife grabbed my arm and directed my attention to a sign taped to the wall. “You must be born on or before today’s date in 1991 to order alcohol.” Someone born in 1991 is old enough to drink! “Good lord that makes me feel old,” she said to me.
The internet, in its most basic form of connecting one computer with another, can trace its roots back to the 1960s and 70s. Maybe even before that. However, what many of us consider the internet, in its most modern form, seemed to take off in 1995. I’m sure somewhere, in some old drawer of some forgotten desk, I still have a stack of American Online CDs offering free minutes to sign up. “100 free minutes! That should last me a month!”
The Dot.Com Bubble is said to have run from 1995-2000. I graduated from college in the spring of 1999 and entered the professional world in the spring of 2000. I haven’t known a day in the working world without access to the internet or email. College graduates entering the professional world today really haven’t known a world without the internet. By the time they entered kindergarten, the internet was in full bloom. Their education was nurtured by the internet. It was used as a tool for learning, socializing and sharing ideas.
I mention that to provide a little perspective. The Baby Boomer era ran from the mid-1940s to mid-1960s (post World War II). That generation still demographically dominates the U.S. business world, especially at the higher management levels. An individual that was born in 1950 and entered the workforce in 1970 built the foundation of his professional career without the availability of the modern-day internet or email. Twenty-five of his 42 working years were spent absent the internet.
MySpace, Linkedin, Blogger and similarly-conceived sites ushered in the Social Networking Era, which roughly began around 2003, but didn’t really make waves in the professional world until several years after that. This era would account for less than 14% of that Baby Boomer’s professional lifecycle so far. Moreover, it falls into the last quarter of their time in the business world.
There have been volumes printed and posted about the benefits of social networking for businesses. I, of course, believe in the benefits. That belief will grow exponentially has the calendar rolls forward . Why? Because a kid born in 1991 is old enough to drink.
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