There were countless great discoveries and advancements in 2008, but one that peaks our interest is about changes seen in usage of social media. Social media sites experienced exponential growth in 2008. In addition to seeing a continual growth in usage, many social media sites are also having a shift in their user demographics.

Let’s take a quick look at some stats from 2008 for the increasingly-popular Facebook. We’re choosing to examine Facebook because it is one of the largest social networking sites with over 200 million users around the world; therefore, we feel confident that whatever assumptions we make from Facebook’s stats, will be true other social media sites.

• By mid-2008 the fastest growing age demographic was 35-54 year olds
• The 24-35 age population doubles every 6 months
• Over 66% of all Facebook users are over the age of 21

What can we take away from these numbers?

First, social media is obviously not just something for teenagers. Second, more young professionals and Gen-Xers found their way in the jungle of social media. They figured out the tools, downloaded apps, learned new lingo and joined the online conversation…or in many cases, started new conversations online. These are people who are full of energy and want to get involved in worthy organizations, say, like your association or nonprofit!

Identify networks of users and online conversations that make sense for your organization. Ask yourself what is it about these social media/networking sites that are attracting millions and millions of people? Take it a step further and brainstorm how you can join the party in effective and strategic ways to help engage younger members.

We’ve come up with a few tips to help you engage younger members of your association through the wonderful world of social media.

Social Networking

If you hang out with a group of young adults between the ages of 21- 34, you’ll notice an interesting trend. They are more likely to say, “I’ll Facebook you”, instead of asking for a phone number or email address. Social networking sites, like Facebook, give users the ability to communicate with others, share pictures, videos, blog posts, articles of interest and more. Users can also create events and invite others. A major benefit is that it allows users to keep lots of information in one place, combined with a simple way to communicate with others. Create a Facebook page for your association, and use it to inform younger members about upcoming events, share your newsletters and any other organization news, add videos and pictures and show a little bit of personality and passion – two of the most attractive qualities young professionals enjoy in any group they associate with.

Through trial and error, young professionals are setting the etiquette for balancing their personal life and professional life using social media tools. LinkedIn is considered the professional version of Facebook. It allows users to interact with each other and share information, but it has the reputation of being more serious about networking and being a place for people to build community around their career.

Multimedia

There are several sites that allow you to share multimedia with others. Nearly everyone has at least heard of YouTube and Flickr, which allow you to post and share videos and pictures. Creating an account for your organization with each of these sites is free, and allows you the opportunity to allow younger members to watch videos from previous events – which may help them RSVP to your annual conference; or, allow them to see all the great photos from the last event they attended.

Blog

Whether it is a new product, a restaurant, an event or your organization – young professionals are going to Google it before giving it a try. In addition to wanting more facts about their new item of interest they also what to get a “feel” for it before they make a decision. We recently read a statistic that said nearly 40% of consumers place more trust, and have a more positive view of brands that have a blog. There are several guides with tips on how to start a blog, if you don’t already have one. Besides posting news information about your organization, make it social as well by sharing pictures, videos and information your younger members may find interesting. Not all blog posts have to be serious and directly related to your organization’s mission – they can be fun, with the sole purpose of trying to engage readers.

At first glance it might seem like some of these suggestions don’t directly relate to your organization’s mission, and might even seem like a waste of time. But, this is how your younger members are using social media to interact with everyone (and every organization/business) that is important to them. Understanding how your younger members consume, manipulate, produce and communicate information through social media will bring you much closer to understanding them, and how to get them more involved in your organization.

For more tips on using social media, check out these blog posts:
Social Media Goes Corporate
Fitting Social Media into Your Schedule
Managing Your Professional Relationships
Using Twitter at Your Annual Conference
Twitter to the Rescue