What can we do as pro-aging advocates to change the way society thinks about aging? Under normal circumstances, we’d be dependent on the mainstream media. Traditional outlets (print, broadcast and electronic) reach hundreds of millions people everyday.
Fantastic!
Except for the fact that the mass media is the most ageist element of our society. Most of these outlets would rather suffer anaphylactic shock than commit time, resources and energy telling a pro-aging story that undercuts billions in advertising focused exclusively on “the young and beautiful.” Regular readers of ChangingAging’s news digest posts know exactly what I am talking about.
Fortunately, there’s a powerful alternative… It’s BIG. It’s powerful. It’s under our control. The answer is…
Social Media.
Social Media is the catchall name for things like Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube—you know, the most popular parts of the internet.
One little problem. Although Social Media provides us the tools it does not tell our story for us.
We have to tell our story. Then we have to share our story.
Three things make this hard to do:
- What are all these blinky things, buttons, widgets and toggles? How do they work? Who has the time to figure all this stuff out? Uggh.
- “Sure,” you say, “I’ve got things to say but dang how do you come up with new and interesting things everyday?” Building an audience requires a fresh, regular supply of new content, everyday. Hmmm.
- People ask, “If I put my stuff out there, how will other people copy and use it?” You should hope that this happens because sharing is what makes the social media world go round!
Kavan Peterson and I have been working hard to create a simple blogging platform designed specifically to help pro-aging advocates tell their stories and connect with like-minded bloggers.
It’s called the ChangingAging Blogstream.
Imagine a network of pro-aging blogs publishing updates into a single stream of content. The Blogstream will provide a rich collection of content that members can dip into for their own blog. In return, they allow others to use their content. It’s called cooperation!
Don’t have a blog? Sign-up for one — it’s free. Already blogging but want to share your stories with a wider audience? Connect to the Blogstream. Need professional services for your organization, such as a custom blog or social media training and strategy? We provide membership services to fit your needs.
Sign-up for a free ChangingAging blog here.
Use our Getting Started User-Guide to help setup your blog.
Working together magnifies our voices and maximizes our influence.
We can all create interesting social media content and then share that content with each other.
We can all learn how to make best use of all of these new social media tools.
Our cause is just. The time is right. Now we must take hold of the tools that will help us Change the World…
