Boomj: Social networking for Boomers

Here we go again.  Read all about it on TechCrunch and be sure to read some of the comments below the original post about how eons is doing or perhaps not doing in this space.  There certainly doesn't seem to be any site that is dominating.  Maybe boomers just aren't interested in social networking.  I've been on a few of these sites and they just don't do anything for me.  Maybe a site needs to come out that doesn't claim to be like Facebook or MySpace for boomers/seniors. 

My question is "Are boomers running these sites or at least the decision and strategy makers?"  If they are, then declare it up front to establish credibility, don't make us go searching for it like they have done on Boomj.  Even then, let's have some more information.

UPDATE:

I just read their "About" page closer and it looks as though they have taken it upon themselves to re-define the normal boomer demographic which has traditionally been defined as 1946-1964.  What's this all about?

• Baby Boomers were born 1942 to 1953; we associate their youth with Howdy Doody, Davy Crocket hats, and later, Woodstock and Vietnam War demonstrations.
• Generation Jones, born 1954 to 1965, is a newer concept and name that represents the actual children of the sixties (more wide-eyed than tie-dyed); Jonesers were weaned on The Brady Bunch and Easy Bake Ovens and later were the teens of 70’s heavy metal, disco, punk and soul.

Comments

[SocialNetworkDiva]

BOOMj didn't invent Generation Jones!! Have you never heard of it before?! I was born in 1960, and very much relate to being a Jones. I've seen many references to Generation Jones in the media in recent years, and love the fact that our lost generation finally finally finally was identified and given a name a few years ago, and that this whole Generation Jones thing continues to grow. I can't remember the name of the guy who coined the term (maybe his name is John Pantel?), but I've seen him numerous times on TV talking about us Joneses and he really has a good rap about us which he articulates well. BOOMj is riding on his success, but kudos to them for recognizing the value of a social netork for Generation Jones.

[thesavvyboomer]

Well maybe they didn't invent it but when you google it-there are about 6 pages ie about 60 references to it and many of those are from boomj. Kudos to boomj for saying the boomer generation started in 1942?

Why would you post this? Do you have something to do with the site? This sounds fishy to me.

[Charles Kenney]

I've got to agree with SocialNetworkDiva on this. Generation Jones has definitely been in the media a lot in recent years. I've especially seen quite a bit of attention about Jonesers politically, they apparently had a pivotal impact in the last couple elections, according to some top pollsters. I don't know which version of Google you are using, but when I Google Generation Jones, I see tens of thousands of references, and Boomj is only connected to a small number of those (Boomj is a new site, while the Generation Jones name has been around for some years). The name of the person who coined the term is Jonathan Pontell, and I just took a look at his self-named website, which confirmed for me that Generation Jones has gotten a lot of attention and acceptance, and I just took a look at wikipedia's article on this generation, which also confirms the same. Actually, I tend to not buy much into labels, since they are so often misused, but whether you believe in the Jones concept or not, the truth is that it already had a big following long before boomj came along.

[thesavvyboomer]

As far as using google-sure there are lots of references but if you go about 8 pages deep, they don't refer to "generation jones" per se. But I never heard of it before and neither have mot of my boomer friend. Also, the boomer year started in 46-not 42. Anyway, we'll see what happens with this site

[brelorcra]

I was born in 1957 and I refuse to be pigeon holed as a Generation Jones, Baby Boomer or any other stupid made up stereotype. I didn't sit around watching The Brady Bunch while growing up and I've never been inclined to play with Easy Bake ovens. I'm an individual just like everyone should be and don't follow the crowd. Me join a social networking site for so called old people? No !@#$%&* way! I like the idea of making friends of all ages. Why would anyone want to restrict themselves? There are still people younger than myself out there who don't think I'm just some old fart as it were and consider me to be a fellow human being just as worthy of friendship as anyone their own age. You'll only meet them if you try ... unless you have some weird hang up about younger people. If a person insists on keeping up a bridge spanning some supposed generation gap, they'll never meet people younger and older than themselves who could become great friends. The people who despise you because of your age difference aren't worth your time anyway and you shouldn't let them keep you from making friends with anyone of any age,race,nationality,blah,blah,blah ..... you get the picture. Sign up at all the social network sites you want to. I do and I love it. Maybe I'll see you out there .... unless you've got some kind of problem befriending a guy who's fifty and who's half or twice your age.