The International Herald Tribune
September 8, 2007 Saturday
Social networking catering to older set;
New Web sites look for a niche among tech-savvy baby boomers

BYLINE: Matt Richtel - The New York Times Media Group

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 901 words

DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO

Silicon Valley's next new thing? Old people.

Technology investors and entrepreneurs, long obsessed with connecting to teenagers and 20-somethings, are starting a host of social networking sites designed for their parents and grandparents. The sites have names like Eons, Rezoom, Multiply, Maya's Mom, Boomj and Boomertown.

Think Facebook with wrinkles.

The sites are being built to capture the attention of a generation of Internet users who have more money and leisure time than those several decades younger, and who may be more loyal than teens flitting from one trendy site to the next.

People who use the sites say they offer a smaller community of like-minded, and like-aged, people than on bigger sites like MySpace, Facebook and Friendster. The sites offer discussion and dating forums, photo-sharing, news and commentary, and copious chatter about diet, fitness and health care.

''I've discussed my divorce, my medical issues, and when do I dare go dating again,'' said Martha Starks, 52, a retired optician in Tucson, Arizona, who spends an hour or two each evening on Eons. ''I sure wouldn't discuss that stuff with a 20-year-old.''

She said she talked about fun things, too, like movies and music, with an audience that gets what she's saying, unlike a younger generation.

''They don't even know who Aretha is - she's the queen of soul!'' she said.

Social networking has thus far largely focused on executives in the business world and young people, because they are tech-savvy and treasured by Madison Avenue. But there are 78 million American baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964 - roughly three times more than there are American teenagers and 20-somethings - and most of the boomers are Internet users who learned computer skills in the workplace. The number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a market research firm.

Plus, according to the creators and financiers risking tens of millions of dollars building and marketing the new sites, older people have something the youngsters typically lack: patience. Older users, because they are relatively settled in their ways, will stick with a social network once they get comfortable with it, rather than capriciously skipping to the latest new site when fashion or hormones dictate, the network developers say.

Some prominent entrepreneurs and investors are banking on the prospect that social networks will become popular among this demographic.

In the past week, VantagePoint Venture Partners announced that it was leading a $16.5 million financing round into Multiply, which considers itself a social network for people who want to stay connected with existing friends and family, not those trying to hook up with new friends at the hottest club. VantagePoint knows something about what works in social networking: it was among the earliest MySpace investors.

Another start-up is TBD, which stands for ''To Be Determined,'' as in: just because you are not 20 and fitted with the hippest mobile gadget doesn't mean you are heading gently or otherwise into that good night.

The founder of TBD.com is Robin Wolaner, who created Parenting magazine in 1987. That year marked the start of at least seven parenting-oriented magazines. Wolaner said there has been the same sudden recognition of a need for Internet publishers to respond to the demands of older Americans.

She came up with the idea for the site, she said, ''when I was sitting around with friends and we said: 'We're not going to hang out at the AARP site. What is there for us?' ''

Plus, she said, she wanted to find a community where she could discuss her interest in getting an eye lift.

''There's a recognition that this generation now uses the Internet just like younger people,'' she said. ''The one thing this generation hasn't done yet is network online.''

TBD, which announced in August that it had received about $5 million in venture capital funding, lets users post profiles, designate friends, start and participate in discussions and get expert commentary. Recently on the front page was a link to a discussion on ''the best dishwasher to buy'' and another link to a discussion on ''how to kick start your libido.'' By contrast, the front page of MySpace that same day highlighted a video titled ''Daring Escalator Slide.''

Social networks aimed at older users are a big draw for investors and consumer products and services companies, said Susan Ayers Walker, a freelance technology journalist for the AARP, the group for people age 50 and older formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, and founder of SmartSilvers Alliance, which offers consultant services to businesses looking to connect with senior citizens.

''Not only do we have a lot more money, we pay a lot more attention to advertisers,'' she said.

Meg Dunn, 38, who is raising three kids in Fort Collins, Colorado, said she tried MySpace and Facebook but found that the short attention span of users did not suit her. She now uses Multiply, where she shares family photos with her relatives and gets into discussions on substantive topics, like a peculiar form of dementia called Pick's Disease that her father suffers from.

''I feel like I'm putting down roots, building relationships,'' she said. ''My feeling on MySpace is that people give you a poke and then they're gone and you never see them again.''