Connecting baby boomers (and advertisers)

Eons is a new, full-fledged social network and information portal for baby boomers, encouraging them to celebrate life, get things done, learn and connect with other people over the age of 50. The company was founded by Jeff Taylor, who also created Monster.com. Divided into seven categories — Fun, Love, Money, Body, Goals, Obits and LifeMap — the website is highly focused on being active and realizing dreams. The goals section, for example, lets members publish the top 10 goals they’d like to accomplish before they turn 100, much like 43things. So far, 50,000 goals have been posted by over 7,000 people, including celebrity 50-plussers like Jane Seymour. A somewhat less cheery note is struck in the obits section. Members can subscribe to obituary alerts, search a database of over 77 million obits and also add tributes, memory journals and photos to obituaries. (Free for now, but an annual charge will be implemented in the future.) Another feature is a proprietary search function: cRANKy, which is touted as the world’s first age relevant search engine. Instead of serving up millions of search results, cRANKy limits results to the highest ranking handful, as well as results that have been hand-picked by editorial staff and members. Top searches give some insight into the website’s audience; at time of writing, the top 10 included ‘rv lifestyle’, ‘firearms’, ‘jobs after retirement’, ‘gardening’ and ‘sudoku’. Social aspects include groups that members can create and join, formed around shared interests ranging from ‘Metaphysics’ and ‘Stocks or real estate?’ to ‘Boomer Bikers’ and ‘Pilates Pals’. Members who’d like to share their stories can either create a personal Life Map, or set up an Eons blog. Opportunities? Boomers everywhere are interested in connecting with members of their own generation and finding information that’s relevant to their stage in life. And advertisers are jumping at the opportunity to target a (mostly) cash and time rich audience. Setting up local versions of Eons, combining popular features from across the social web and giving them an age-related makeover, is a sure winner.