Generation Y Moms: Log on to connect to other moms
Gen Y moms (born between 1982 and 1995), AKA babies of baby boomers) are pushing the digital envelope. Compared to Gen X moms before them, they are more likely to use the internet to form bonds with one another to hone their parenting skills. A research brief on MediaPost draws distinctions between the way the two groups use a popular parenting site, Parenting.com.
Generation X women (born between 1965-1982, AKA post-baby boomers) tend to rely on the internet for more practical applications, like shopping and uploading pictures—as compared to Generation Y women, who are more likely to use technology to connect with other moms—by texting, sharing photos and videos, and chatting as members of online communities.
According to the report: “It…reveals a trend among the younger Gen Y moms of relying on the common experience of members of their cohort to help them navigate their journey through parenthood.”
As a baby boomer, the telephone was the tool I used to connect. I would call my one-and-only best friend and next-door neighbor Judy, who had given birth a few years before me, to find out all the tricks she knew and I was yet to learn as a young mother. Now young moms can learn from groups of their peers, 24/7, as long as the baby takes naps and sleeps through the night. But if that were the case, why would they need parenting advice? 🙂
Category: KEEPING FRIENDS
hey, what about us baby boomers?
Hi Starrlife:
According to a May 2008 Pew Internet and American Life Project survey, http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/User_Demo_7.22.08.htm, about 70 percent of boomers use the internet.
As you might expect, boomers—who grew up before the advent of voicemail, home computers and cell phones—are increasingly gravitating to the internet. There is a neat quiz you can take on the site to calculate the type of internet user you are. See: http://www.pewinternet.org/quiz/quiz.asp
According to my results, I’m an omnivore:
“Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends.”
I guess that makes me young at heart!
Best,
Irene