42244 0 3 econsultancy_xml <p> <a href="http://www2.saga.co.uk/sagazone/home/">The site</a> has been in beta for the last four months and has attracted 13,000 members so far. The company hopes that membership will expand quickly after its launch to the public. </p> <p>Saga's Paul Green claimed:</p> <blockquote> <p> <em>"Thirteen thousand is just a drop in the ocean - in theory the membership is practically limitless. Social networking isn't going to be for everyone, but the feedback so far has knocked our socks off."</em> </p> </blockquote> <p>The new site features blogs and forums on a range of subjects, from gardening to relationship advice. </p> <p>Saga has given it a clean look, avoiding some of the clutter you might find on Facebook or MySpace, while navigation is nice and simple. </p> <p>There is clearly an audience out there for such sites - <a href="/blog/1209-silver-surfers-expand-their-online-presence">silver surfers are one of the biggest demographic groups online</a>, accounting for 22% of all internet visits back in May this year, while many have money to spend on the web. </p> <p>A Saga survey of the over 50s found that three quarters had bought flights online and more than half had purchased train and events tickets. </p> <p>However, there is clearly room for more research into the differences between pre-retired and post-retired web users.</p> <p>This is also by no means the first social network to be launched for older consumers. US website <a href="/blog/899-silver-surfers-social-site-nets-22m">Eons launched last year</a>, though it has recently been forced to <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/09/13/eons-fires-one-third-of-staff">lay off a third of its staff.</a></p> <p> <strong>Related stories:</strong> <br /> <a href="/blog/1433-silver-surfers-are-biggest-home-pc-users">Silver surfers are biggest home PC users</a> <br /> <a href="/blog/1552-interview-warner-breaks-mat-finch-on-silver-surfers">Interview: Warner Breaks' Mat Finch on silver surfers</a>  <em></em></p><em> </em> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Link URL="http://www2.saga.co.uk/sagazone/home/" Window="Self">The site</Link> has been in beta for the last four months and has attracted 13,000 members so far. The company hopes that membership will expand quickly after its launch to the public. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Saga's Paul Green claimed:</Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"Thirteen thousand is just a drop in the ocean - in theory the membership is practically limitless. Social networking isn't going to be for everyone, but the feedback so far has knocked our socks off."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>The new site features blogs and forums on a range of subjects, from gardening to relationship advice. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Saga has given it a clean look, avoiding some of the clutter you might find on Facebook or MySpace, while navigation is nice and simple. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>There is clearly an audience out there for such sites - <Link URL="/blog/1209-silver-surfers-expand-their-online-presence" Window="Self">silver surfers are one of the biggest demographic groups online</Link>, accounting for 22% of all internet visits back in May this year, while many have money to spend on the web. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>A Saga survey of the over 50s found that three quarters had bought flights online and more than half had purchased train and events tickets. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>However, there is clearly room for more research into the differences between pre-retired and post-retired web users.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>This is also by no means the first social network to be launched for older consumers. US website <Link URL="/blog/899-silver-surfers-social-site-nets-22m" Window="Self">Eons launched last year</Link>, though it has recently been forced to <Link URL="http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/09/13/eons-fires-one-third-of-staff" Window="Self">lay off a third of its staff.</Link></Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1433-silver-surfers-are-biggest-home-pc-users" Window="Self">Silver surfers are biggest home PC users</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1552-interview-warner-breaks-mat-finch-on-silver-surfers" Window="Self">Interview: Warner Breaks' Mat Finch on silver surfers</Link>  <Quote></Quote></Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2007-10-31T11:53:00+00:00 0 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>Travel group Saga has launched a social network aimed exclusively at the over 50s. </strong> </p> <p>SagaZone, as it is called, features profile pages, forums and blogs for its members. </p> <p> <img alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/1807589829_cc65a3b94f_o.jpg" /> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Travel group Saga has launched a social network aimed exclusively at the over 50s. </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>SagaZone, as it is called, features profile pages, forums and blogs for its members. </Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/1807589829_cc65a3b94f_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 1889 364493 Saga launches silver surfers' social network false 2007-10-31T13:31:00+00:00 saga-launches-silver-surfers-social-network 2009-04-30T04:42:00+01:00 2009-04-30T04:42:00+01:00 490