extending Professional Active Life – Another perspective on engagement
Posted on | July 20, 2009 | No Comments
Much of my work last week focused on the topic of social media non-adopters. After an enjoyable Black Country Social Media Cafe on Tuesday discussing social media non-adopters with the social media crowd, I spent the Thursday in London at an ePAL consensus building event discussing how to leverage retired professionals’ skills and expertise with the help of new technology. Whilst I was there as a ‘technology expert’, the majority were experts in being ‘retired professionals’; on average 30 years my senior.
With a rapidly aging population, and increasingly competitive global economy, it’s not surprising that the European Commission are interested in leveraging the skills and expertise of retired professionals. However, whilst social media tools provide useful networking opportunities, the general consensus was that any input from the EC can only be from a distance with the lightest of touches. In much the same way as social media must be seen as an enabler rather than a driver, so must the EC. A ghettoized social networking site specifically for networking amongst retired professionals would be a far poorer solution than providing money for groups already working with retired (and retiring) professionals to introduce and support the use of existing and forthcoming social media tools.
ePAL was a great opportunity to discuss social media with a group of people with very different perspectives to my own, a refreshing change to discussing social media with the usual 20-something/30-something ‘social media experts’. It was also enjoyable to take part in a discussion where technology is not seen as a fait accompli, but rather a means to an end. Whilst this is the way it should always be discussed, too often those espousing the virtues of social media are those with vested interests in its being adopted.
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