NotOverTheHill.com is the Gum on My Sock
Okay. Now you’ve done it. Now you’ve really done it.
I was in a crappy mood (the gum on my sock to start the day) then I read this pap…
NotOverTheHill.com provides an opportunity for the 40+ crowd to experience the fun and excitement that has made sites like Facebook and MySpace so popular. Unlike other social networking sites, which cater to a younger audience, NotOverTheHill provides a unique environment where mature adults can share photos, music interests, videos, and blogs. Membership is free.
The Savvy Boomer has documented many times how social websites targeted at boomers are a total BUST.
Boomer bloggers have had a spirited discussion about how we don’t want, don’t need, don’t like our “own” social network. We’re on Facebook or MySpace if we feel the need.
But these Michiganders think they have the answers to tap into our psyche and shepard us into a group large enough to get some ads.
The refer to their target as the “so-called” baby boomer generation.
In that context “so-called” gives the impression that there is no legitimacy to the term “baby boomer.” Ahem, it’s a recognized demographic term used for decades to describe us.
Their press release just keeps getting more and more patronizing. All the crap every boomer-focused-site has babbled before:
- boomers have been ignored
- boomers don’t like the content on big social nets
- boomers are scared of the big social nets
- blah, blah, blah
But I joined anyway, just to see what kind of initial experience they offered.
It’s bad.
Starting right with their registration page.
They have a CAPTCHA, I hate CAPTCHA
I flamed them about their CAPTCHA.
It’s CASE SENSITIVE! So is that a zero or an “o” and the registration form clears passwords and “agree to terms” checkbox if you screw it up, well you care you can read the rest here.
(Boy that gum on my sock really got me off to a bad start today. )
Their next mistake was sending me FOUR (so far) “welcome” messages! SPAM. One message? expected and appreciated, two? overkill, three? SPAM. four? PISSES ME OFF!
My first impression of NotOverTheHill.com is bad, real bad.\
UPDATE: Social Net for adults 18+ croaks.
ReadWriteWeb’s resident Baby Boomer, Bernard Lunn, wrote a great post entitled: Why Eons, a MySpace for Old People, Failed. Bernard claimed that “the idea of targeting by age is just not smart marketing.” Instead you should target by content, he wrote. With both Eons and iYomu now having failed, it’s difficult to argue with that logic.
I am up to my eyeballs in “boomer sites” Each one claiming to be better than the rest. I’m just happy reading blogs from bloggers I like and leaving messages like this. And while I’m at it, let me just plug my own NEW AND IMPROVED site: http://www.boomerdivanation.org
And Sixty…I don’t think this one is for you….:)
I have zero interest in boomer meet-up sites. I know enough old farts online and in real life, thank you (most of our realspace friends are in their 50s if not 60s). Myself included, of course.
Sorry about the gum on your sock . . . sort of. Karma sucks, don’t it? xoxo
Gretchen’s last blog post..The Comedian.
I think it reaches all of our sentiments…So may sites and so little time. Today the difference between Republicans and Democrats i a lot..(no new fact here)…So lets just wait and see what happens..carol stanley…carolstanley1.com, book: FOr Kids 59.99 and Over”
@Beverly: I’m sorry you have trouble posting comments. Something about WordPress thinks you need to be moderated!
@Gretchen: When Karma has a sense of humor, it can be lots of fun! This is one of those cases!
I am a member of the Hill and its a great place. I don’t have a bunch of teens sending me “crush” messages, I can decide who I want to leave comments, which groups I want to join, and the groups are geared for things I like!
The so-called spam you got was not spam at all.. it was some of the welcome wagon volunteers sending you a greeting and offering to help you get started. You can log in to your account and turn off email notifications so you don’t get them too.
The captcha at signup is to help protect the site for bots and all from joining. And you have a choice to refresh it several times until you can read it well.. and the picture of the captcha you show is much samller then the actual one on the site.
Its too bad you choose to be critical instead of actually taking a look. Had you read the so-called “spam” you would have found it was very nice personal written messages and not spam at all.
@Sharon: I don’t want a bunch of teens sending me messages either, that’s why I’m not on Facebook (anymore) or MySpace.
I read all four messages. I don’t need four people welcoming me. But that’s just me. If I would have gotten four friend requests, that’s different.
The CAPTCHA can be viewed at full size if clicked on.
It’s not just this site CAPTCHA, I hate all CAPTCHAs.
Again, what really honked me is the form clearing! That is just bad design!
I looked at the site, I blogged at the site.
BTW: I just got another message from Fred welcoming me to the site.
I got gum on my sock. So I’m in a pissy mood.
Have fun.
I’m jealous. I never had any teens sending me “crush” messages.
Gretchen’s last blog post..The Comedian.
Good on ya, Sixty. You tell ’em.
If that’s you in a pissy mood, I’d hate to see you in a really bad one….
Grandad’s last blog post..Lazy hazy days of summer
@Grandad: So far I have three MORE friggin’ “welcome” bullshit messages. I turned them off the losers. See that peak in the chart? It’s going to be their high point.
I don’t know. I realize that site was not a good experience, but I like eons.com. I think the site has quality people, active groups, and interesting articles.
Sheryl’s last blog post..Floods!
@Sheryl: even with all the things you say, people are leaving eons.com in droves. That’s not all bad, if they end up with a bunch loyal followers.
While I agree that some of these social networking sites are a pain in the a.., I do think they give you the exposure you need to get your name out. I joined Facebook for networking purposes and it’s so complicated, but I figured whatever I can do on it, can’t hurt. There’s a lot of competition out there, so if you can stand out and be heard, I don’t think that’s bad. Check out my new blog http:over40nuggets.blogspot.com
Amy Sherman’s last blog post..Baby Boomer Empowerment Support Groups
@Amy Sherman: if you are using social nets to advance a commercial operation, that is called spamming and not at all welcome on the social nets. Linkedin.com is for networking. I’ll add you to my blogroll however.
OMG, I just looked at your site and you are a “boomer helper.” ((((sigh))))
I’m a proud member of the Hill. You’re an egotistical, pompous blowhard. Big surprise.
@Anonymous: and you are anonymous. Big surprise
WHO ARE YOU?
@Barb: I don’t understand your question. Can you rephrase it in the form of a question?
“Who are you?” is already a question. See, it’s got a question mark after the words. What part of “who are you” do you not understand? I am asking the identity of the person who is running down NotOverTheHill and the reason I ask is so that I can verify that I know you, or that I don’t know you. Get it” Got it? Good! BTW no animosity here, just a simple question.
@Barb: I don’t know you. You don’t know me. I have an opinion. Deal with it.
@Barb: Who are you?
Mighta known. Thanks.
Barb, meet Sixty. Sixty, meet Barb.
Now the two of you have been introduced, stop bickering, or you’ll both go on the naughty step.
Grandads last blog post..Staff problems
my, my so much negativity for notoverthehill. what a crock of _ _ _ t. you must really like critizing all the time. you don’t like welcome messages then you should not have signed up. you must come from a part of the country that i don’t like because they are like you, very rude, crude and unsocial. because someone welcomes you when you are new doesn’t make them losers. why not just stay off the internet and then you would be happy. before you even ask, yes i am a member of notoverthehill. oops, poor you, more gum on your sock, takes your socks off and try again.
@brsfld: so much vitriol from someone so anonymous. You gutless freakazoid. What part of the country don’t you like you bigoted lobster-brained slug? Hope you enjoy hanging with the other addled-elders at NotOverTheHill.com.
You dope: I signed up to check it out. I got a dozen welcome messages. You think it would happen the other way around?
Sheesh. Go slide under the toilet seat from whence you escaped.
I was asked by one of my clients to check out NotOverTheHill and advise them on if the site was worth joining. As soon as I signed up and before I posted a photo or profile.. BAM..I got five welcomes comments. he worst part was I got an email for each one of the comment. Yep..BAD design. I did not need that many welcomes..one welcome and one message would have been enough. If the developers were truly wanting to build a unique community they should have produced a site built on a unique platform and not use an off the shelf social networking platform. It is obvious that the site is set up to run up membership numbers to drive advertising revenue to someone….plus I am not a real fan of my viewer preferences being obtained by third party marketing groups and sold without cutting me in on the deal. I also am seeing way too much target marketing to baby boomers. No wonder there are millions of over 40 business people offline who don’t want to come back online again…the unwanted attention provided by sites like NotOverTheHill is not what I or my clients are looking for. Since my clients are not wanting to be bothered I can’t advise them that NotOverTheHill is a place for them to go. Thanks for starting this thread on reviewing this site….it saved me blogging on it.
Mr Business Golfs last blog post..How To Pitch a Deal on the Golf Course
@Mr. Business Golf: Thanks for commenting. Just a thought on target marketing toward boomers. There are a lot of we boomers who resent being lumped into a homogenized demographic. What started as handy way to identify a large group of people has become a burden.
I do not have a clue as to who you are, and frankly, I do not care. However, at least YOU must ‘think’ you are someone who can be a critique which means at least a few people read what you write, so I will reply to your ‘critique’ on NOTH (not over the hill).
The captcha may be annoying to some and a comfort to others, to me it has a double edge… it keeps out the ‘automation’ and it deters critics/annoying people who try to drive home their own opinions on others, like yourself!
The welcomes you receive are from real people who are happy you joined and wish to make everyone feel welcome. How do I know this? I am one of your ‘automations’ !
Why do I try to welcome every person personally? To let them know I am glad they are discovering NOTH, a place for fun, energetic, warm hearted people from all walks of life and all over the world.
NOTH has blogs, forums, personal pages, games, contests… but if you had taken the time to find out what you were supposed to be talking about, you would have known all of this, right?
I have had a myspace account for several years, I became depressed from all the sadness that permeates from so many people; missing children, murdered children, dying children….
Support this cause or that cause…. promote this singer or that singer…
Being hacked into and all of a sudden you are sending hate mail or promoting porn without your knowledge…
I found NOTH …. I found peace …. I found fun… and more importantly, I found real people who care about you as a person.
Too bad, you got gum stuck on your sock that morning… it would have been better for a lot of us if had gotten stuck to your typing finger instead! I wouldn’t have had to get on my soap box (although it does make me taller) and shake my finger and head at you!
Truly wishing you a great day with much love & laughter, you obviously need it.
Tommie Lea
@Tommie Lea: Opinions are like assholes: everybody has one and they usually stink.
Yep that they do, at least you finally got something right! I knew I smelled something when I read what you wrote BOTH times. There may be help for you yet, goinglike sixty.
Don’t you love it when you’re right ?! *wink*
@Tommie Lea: T-T-T-T Troll! TROLL. TROLL. TROLL. TROLLY TROLL TROLL. I made a joke and you are a TROLL.
What a load of babies, with your rubbish talk if you don’t like NOTH stay away we don’t need people like you. What a shame your gum didn’t get stuck in your horrid nasty mouth.
Appears your biggest peak from your graph above (which meets the lowest point of notoverthehill) was only because you show up in search engines now. You predicted notoverthehill was at their highest point.. wrong once again. They just reached 10,000 members.
If someone does not like social networking sites, it seems odd they would join to check it out, then write a huge blog about it. Looks more like you are using notoverthehill site to get your count up on this site. And it worked. You peaked the highest you have ever been after posting this blog. But, I see you dropped back down too!
For those of you who were tricked into coming here based on the search engine results, the correct link is http://www.notoverthehill.com
1. I heard about the site.
2. I joined.
3. I didn’t like it.
4. I wrote about it.
Members does not equal traffic.
Here’s the latest — note that last month these two sites were equal, and I don’t have any “members.”
Personally, I appreciate reading your opinion of NOTH. To each his own.
Beth…also wrote this…The Empty Nester Pub Crawl
Ola! Goinglikesixty,
Thanks for the info, He was bitting my sock I had on my foot and I raised my leg and I herd a cracked. I knew it was his tooth and maybe it broke off or just cracked. He didn’t look like he was in pain he kept biting my sock. I opened his mouth and his right fang is cracked like the middle is missing but there is still cracked pieadces in his gum like a little no blood is comming out just red he is 6 mo. old and is a chihuahua what do i do?? can it be bad? Do i need to go to the vet? Please help me… thanks… (still his baby teeth happen today like 4 min ago…)
Catch you again soon!