In a moment of weakness, I volunteered to sit on the local school PTA board.

With an intro like that, this blog can go so many different directions, right?  Here’s where I’m going: we all live in the interactive space 24/7/365, but not everyone is dedicated to checking Facebook religiously.

This brings me back to the PTA.  

You would assume that this group would find the value in a social networking solution. Granted, I was suggesting Ning, a private social network. But my recommendation didn’t go over well even though I set it up and taught folks how to use it. For some reason, this group believes a flurry of reply-all e-mails among 25 people is a better communications solution than posting a message in one place, one time. 

Mindboggling, but I think I found the reason for this madness in Forrester’s recent report, The State of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2009.

According to Forrester’s research, younger folks (those under 40) still remain the biggest users and contributors to social networking sites. More than a quarter of young singles, couples and families consider their role with social networks to be what Forrester terms “creators.” In addition, one out of every five is a “critic,” offering up reviews and recommendations.

In contrast, social networkers over 40 tend to fall into the “spectator” group. Nearly a quarter identify themselves as “joiners,” meaning they may visit social networking sites and even maintain a profile, but they don’t actively create new content. Their level of participation on the spectrum of social network usage pales in comparison to the under-40 crowd.

So scroll back to the second paragraph, where I confidently stated, “We all live in the interactive space 24/7/365.” Let me amend that.

The reality is that people live in the interactive space their way. For some, social sites like Facebook are still places to visit and observe, but not completely participate. Basic digital tools like e-mail chains, so passé for us Facebook/Twitter/Ning-leaning netizens, are primary communications tools for others — including my new PTA friends, many of whom are over 40 (sorry ladies).

My PTA experience has reminded me of the need to take the ultimate “consumer” into consideration before selecting a communications vehicle. Sometimes, old school may be the smarter option, in spite of your affinity for new school thinking.