If Silicon Valley is any indication, baby boomers have found a social networking site of their own. Not yet on par with Facebook, MySpace and similar social network sites, Winster has become a Boomer favorite and now sees over 2 million unique visitors to its site monthly.
Traffic to the site is likely to spike even more now that the San Jose Mercury News published a feature story about the site December 22, 2010. The article profiled San Jose resident Dennis Ah Yo who credits the site for helping him cope with the harsh side effects of chemotherapy.
One of the unique design elements of the web site is its use of games to attract users. The games are designed to establish trust and "positive interactions" among the players who must cooperate with each other in order to win prizes. Prizes are awarded based upon the number of points earned by playing games. Players can help each other by trading tokens allowing both parties to score points faster. Prizes include gift cards to online retailers like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart.
Winster's founders, Michelle and Jerry Kaplan say the site attracts Boomers because it mimics the way Boomers socialize. "Young people typically make friends by networking," Jerry says. "Older people tend to make friends by sharing common activities, like scrapbooking or book clubs."
While many would associate game playing with a younger audience, Jerry says that the types of games on Winster are not competitive, do not require new skills, and allow people to become friends. "The games are simple and don't get in the way of the conversation," Jerry adds.
Boomers are not the only demographic over represented on the site either- -women account for 4 out of every 5 visitors. Michelle cites a report published by Pew Research showing that while Boomers only account for 25% of the overall population of the U.S., they represent 35% of internet users. Boomers are also retiring later and are exposed to social networking at their jobs. The Kaplans see the trend growing as Boomers age, have more free time to soclialize, or even encounter health challenges that limit their mobility.
"Winster tends to appeal to people who may lack adequate opportunities for getting together with others, for instance, those who live out of town or are unable to leave their homes," Jerry said.
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