On Monday, Microsoft announced that it will be releasing a social phone, called the Kin.
The Kin is promoted as a platform designed for vibrant social experiences, including social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut. Based on the Kin’s video ads, which recall Coca-Cola ads from the 90s, Microsoft is clearly targeting the hip and happening young generation. After all, it is the generation that uses social media the most. Or are they?
In July 2009, digital word-of-mouth agency iStrategyLabs reported that the growth of users above the age of 55 who joined Facebook was a lot larger than that of high school and college students. In January, eMarketer showed that Baby Boomers are increasingly testing social media, interested in the opportunity to nurture personal connections online. In short, older generations are quickly catching up on the digital social networking trends and reshaping them in new ways.
So can Microsoft, with its new social phone, be ignoring a more interesting market segment?
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