A frequent theme in my Editor’s blog posts about using social media to pursue culture change is the idea of using social media to create new narratives.
As a society, we see ourselves through certain lenses, or narratives, and act accordingly. Going to school, getting a job, getting married, having kids and buying lots of stuff; this is the typical American narrative.
These narratives definitely apply to how we adapt to our jobs and the culture of the organizations we work for. Every organization has a narrative and it is WAY easier to adapt to that narrative than to change it. Everyone working to promote culture change in the field of long-term care knows this.
Some of our cultural narratives have been great for our society. Other narratives… devastating. We can all think of recent examples in the global economy, environment and politics. But one damaging narrative in particular has remained stubbornly under the radar — the narrative that shapes how we think about aging and the way we treat “old” people.
Changing that narrative is what ChangingAging.org is all about.
The bad news is that changing a cultural narrative is hard. It used to be nearly impossible unless you were a large corporation with a powerful marketing and media apparatus. Look at what happened in the 60’s when coming-of-age baby boomers tried to change the narrative of growing up – they certainly made a lot of noise, but what happened when they did grow up? They almost universally conformed to the narrative.
The good news is the playing field is being leveled. We are in the midst of an incredible technological communications transformation that is empowering people all over the world to enact dramatic social change by creating their own stories and sharing them with like-minded people using social networking platforms.
This is the world of social media and social networking. The democratization of information through the Internet and social media platforms allows anyone to be a publisher, newsmaker, commentator and filmmaker. (See the video below).
We have a huge challenge before us. The dominant narrative of aging in our culture is the worship of youth, and you can’t deny that youth is powerfully attractive.
If you’re a reader of ChangingAging.org, chances are you’re already at the vanguard of the movement to redefine aging in our society. We need you – the care partners, elder advocates and culture change warriors – to harness the power of social media to tell your stories. To tell changing aging stories.
I’ll repeat a request from my last post: How are you or your organizations using social media tools? Which social media tools have worked well for you, and which ones baffle you?
Please share your blogs, videos, Facebook groups or fan pages by posting links in the comments section. And stay tuned to ChangingAging.org by subscribing to our RSS feed or by email above.
P.S. Oh wait, I need to include a social media tip! If you’re using Facebook Groups for your organization or movement, you might want to consider creating a Facebook Fan Page instead. Mashable.com, “The Social Media Guide,” gives a detailed explanation of the pro-cons of Groups vs. Fan Pages here. I just created a new Fan Page for ChangingAging.org and I look forward to continuing the conversation with you there.
Kavan, there is also a discussion about reconnecting with real friends and leaving facebook et.al. http://www.suicidemachine.org
Where indeed? I’ll preface this by saying I’m an expert on social media, not eldercare — fortunately I have the honor of working with someone of Dr. Thomas’ stature and I hope he will weigh-in on this conversation. My approach is not to look at elders, however frail, any differently than other groups of people when it comes to taking advantage of new tools to build social relationships. Technologies and social networking tools that enrich our lives, overcome barriers to communication and help build meaningful relationships should be embraced. Technologies and social networking tools that provide a false sense of connectivity but in reality contribute to the isolation of people should be avoided. For example, using Skype to allow grandparents to talk to grandchildren thousands of miles away has real social value. But using Skype or high tech communications tools to keep tabs on a loved-one instead of driving across town to check-in on them in person promote isolation.
Also, putting Facebook demographics in context, keep in mind younger folks have already universally embraced social media so it’s logical that the “fastest-growing” demographics are adults. I think there’s a false paradigm out there in which people still equate the Internet as a technological hurdle, like programming a VCR, which older generations cannot overcome. In reality, social networking sites are getting increasingly user-friendly and intuitive to use. There’s an initial intimidation factor for new users, whatever their age or ability, but the vast majority of people have no problem participating.
Great post Kavan. I guess my first reaction is to wonder where the frail elder is in all of this. I know the potential here is incredible (can’t believe those statistics of the fastest growing age group on Facebook!)
But where is the intersection of this new social connectedness which we are coming to know so well, and the lived experience of the vast, vast majority of frail elders? It’s happening for sure (IN2L!), and that’s really exciting, but right now it’s all too rare.
As for how the organization that I work for uses social media (PHI), I will invite our communications folks over to share. I think it’s very exciting (but you probably gathered that!)
Thanks again for getting this conversation going.
Kavan, I really enjoyed this post. In some ways, I think there is even more application for social media among seniors. SM is about sharing experiences, and the collective experience of a eighty year old is much richer than that of an eighteen year old, something I wrote about in a post earlier this month. Thanks! – Mike
True words Mike, thanks for the comment! Thought I’d share an outtake from the great blog post you mentioned:
Read more here.