GRAND Magazine - May/June 2018 - 13

tech talk

Say yes to Instagram!
I
BY DEANNA SHOSS

nstagram is free fun. And, since you're
never too old to have fun, why not check
it out? It's a social networking app for
sharing photos and videos from your
smartphone. Yes, the demographics still
skew younger, but so did Facebook in the
early days. Currently 87% of all American
adults age 50-64 are online; 72% of that
group is on Facebook and 18% uses
Instagram. For the 65+ crowd, 66% use the
Internet. Of them 62% are on Facebook
and 8% use Instagram.
But what's the joy of finally being over 50
if not to say who cares who else is doing it?

Should you be on
Instagram?

Is there something Instagram can do for
you that would meet your real life objectives? Are you a fashion
designer, stylist, or lifestyle blogger? #fashion is one of the top
30 hashtags on Instagram, so it's a good place to be. For photographers it's a no-brainer. The photography on Instagram is crazy
good.
For business owners and professionals, a branded Instagram
account can help increase your visibility online. And there's
always the same reason that prompted many to join Facebook:
to see photos of your adult children and grandchildren-59% of
Internet users ages 18-29 and 33% of Internet users 30-49 are on
Instagram. It's another way to connect because no one calls or
leaves voice messages anymore (so 90's!). And that's okay. Want
to connect with kids and grandkids? Enter their world.
13 GRAND

MAY JUNE 2018

Here's what got me started

I created an Instagram account (@InterculturalTalk) a few years
ago at age 52 because a clearly much older client (53!) was interested. I was already using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for
marketing, and this was one more tool. So I did what any smart
older adult does when trying to stay hip and relevant in today's
ever changing communications field: I asked a young person. Sid,
a soon to graduate and take over the world MBA student, got me
up and running, explained hashtags, and I was good to go.
While I didn't do much with my own profile after that, I
started noticing prompts, both in Facebook and Instagram (the
former owns the latter) saying things like "Your friend LizzyS is on

But what's the joy of finally being
over 50 if not to say who cares who else
is doing it?

Instagram, want to follow her?" Once I got over the eerie feeling
of my phone knowing who my friends were, I realized while I was
waffling on the periphery, everyone else was joining in.
John Curran, 53 (@coolerbydalake) says Instagram is his favorite social platform. "It is more image/photo focused so I see the
creativity of my friends surface thoughtfully. It also stretches
my creative wings, especially when I travel and see new things!"
Curran, who is VP, General Manager at Big Bus Tours and former
VP of Marketing for the Magnificent Mile Association (Chicago's
famous Michigan Ave.) says the basics of Instagram were easy to
learn.
"After a few posts and playing with the filters I received some
advice from one of my teenagers on how to edit the photos in
interesting ways...like spotlighting specific parts while fading the
rest of the image into soft focus." (Note to self: get John's teenager's phone number!)

Fun Is Never a Waste of Time

Here's the problem (or joy) of writing an article about Instagram...

Click here to continue reading
Deanna Shoss (pictured above) is CEO of
Intercultural Talk, Inc. which provides Digital,
Intercultural & Real World Marketing for nondigital natives-entrepreneurs, dreamers and
business owners age 50+ who didn't grow up
with technology and who won't grow old without
it. She's also a writer, professional speaker and
certified aerobics and Body Pump instructor.

https://www.facebook.com/GRANDmagazine/ https://www.twitter.com/grandMmagazine http://www.grandmagazine.com/2018/04/say-yes-to-instagram/ http://interculturaltalk.org/ http://interculturaltalk.org/

GRAND Magazine - May/June 2018

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