The Charlotte Observer’s social media columnist Eric Frazier wrote a feature on Charlotte-based startup Fastnote.com, published on December 28, 2010. Below are excerpts from the article:

Richard Shaffner hardly fits the hip young social media CEO stereotype.

He’s a 55-year-old father of six, a former banker who’s still finding his way around the new world of blogs and social networks. The only T-shirts he’d ever wear to the office would be the ones hidden beneath button-down oxfords.

But the generation gap hasn’t stopped him and his 62-year-old brother, Louis, from launching Fastnote.com, a new Charlotte-based social media website they hope will mushroom into the next big thing online. < … >

But as they continue to get feedback, the brothers are starting to wonder if privacy-sensitive baby boomers like themselves might not be a more natural market than the 20-something crowd.

John McArthur, a Queens University communications professor who consulted on Fastnote’s development, said people who don’t like putting personal information online might find it a more comfortable place to share their thoughts. Read more.