Last.FM – Change Before the Charge!

• February 14th, 2011 by SEM Contributor

So, it was recently announced that music website Last.FM is aligning their business model with that of DRM music streaming service Spotify by charging users £3 a month to stream music from their mobile devices. When I first heard this news I have to admit I was pretty peeved – and to some degree I still am! Just before Christmas,… Read more

Social Media: Different Strokes for Different Folks

• February 8th, 2011 by SEM Contributor

A two year old asks “why”? They want to know why things happen, why things are the way they are. Hopefully, this age is not on Social Media except what their family puts up about them Young children ask why to find out answers to important questions either for homework or for general living. Their presence on social media is… Read more

Baby Boomers, Social Media and Writing

• February 1st, 2011 by Roberta Budvietas

When I was in school, I spent many hours on essays, speeches, reports and exams where my results depended on my ability to express my thinking in writing. Most Baby Boomers took grammar classes until their last years of high school. Results had deductions for bad spelling and poor grammar. Not all Baby Boomers are comfortable writing blogs or articles… Read more

The Rise Of Antisocial Media

• January 26th, 2011 by SEM Contributor

Professor Sherry Turkle, director of MIT’s Initiative on Technology and Self has stated that technology such as Facebook and Twitter threaten to dominate our lives, make us socially insular and ultimately make us “less human”. Professor Turkle goes on to claim that the use of technology has become a form of “modern madness” and argues that we are under the… Read more

Baby Boomers and the Social Media Battleground

• January 25th, 2011 by Roberta Budvietas

In the 1960s there was a battle going on between the People who wanted to tell people what to do and the People who wanted to be Free. Baby Boomers thought in the 70s that we had found a balance between the two sides.… Read more

Hiding Your Online Embarassments

• January 5th, 2011 by SEM Contributor

At last! A strategy to clean up the “digital detritus” that I left all over the Internet before tweaking to the reality that, “What happens online, stays online . . . forever!” (See: ‘Dealing with ‘Online-Multiple Personality Disorder’) Writing on Time magazine’s Techland blog, Allie Townsend outlines what steps you can take if you, like me, were initially… Read more

Who Created Spam (and How to Deal with It)

• December 27th, 2010 by Ann Smarty

Email and social media have given a whole new meaning to JUNK. Junk is what you don’t want. There is a saying that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. If you don’t believe me watch things like Antique Roadshow. Attend stamp and comic book exchanges. Look at the second hand jewelery and clothing stores. Did you know that the… Read more

The Baby Boomers Understand the Need for Etiquette on Social Media

• December 21st, 2010 by Roberta Budvietas

Once upon a time there was a lady called Ann Landers who wrote a syndicated column in the USA which advised people what to do in situations. Miss Manners has for many years been the source of information for how to behave in social situations Baby Boomers found that in dealing with the wider and more complicated world, sources like… Read more

Phishing, False Login, Sweepstakes, and Other Facebook Scams

• December 16th, 2010 by Ann Smarty

I found out the other day that my grandmother uses Facebook. I was shocked when I saw an add request from a woman who finds electric mixers to be an unneeded extravagance…I didn’t even know she owned a computer! This shows clearly the change in technology, and the usability of social networking sites. From kids to adults of all ages,… Read more

Social Media Since Early Days: Baby Boomers have Used Social Media for 30 Years

• December 13th, 2010 by Roberta Budvietas

Computers have been around for a very long time. One could start with the abacus, which dates back to around 500 BC, or even further back, with the Sumerians and their recording of planetary data, and calculations of where planets (and the sun) would be on a particular date. Or jump forward to “Napier’s Bones” and slide rules, based on… Read more