Facebook is a website that lets you connect with other people that you know and keep in contact with them and see what they're up to without having to bother them. To use Facebook, you create a profile that reveals as much or as little of yourself as you want, and then you can choose to do any number of things to keep your online-self interesting, such as posting pictures or videos, or publishing a status or a note to let people know what you're up to. You ask other people to be your "friend" so that you can see their information and updates and they can see yours. There are many ways to directly communicate with your friends also: you can post messages (or almost anything else) on their wall, which anyone else can see (so it's similar to leaving someone a note on their locker in high school, or on their desk at work - the point is other people can see it). You can also send them messages, which is similar to email. Once you have friends, some of the things that they’re doing on Facebook will show up on your news feed so that you don’t have to visit everyone’s profile to see if they’ve updated anything.
As you can see above, I am using Orlikowski’s technological frames theory to orient the 40-60 yos to Facebook by talking in terms of things they are familiar with, but it would be important for them to see how these frames have to be extended because they can apply to your whole social network. Some of the features don’t have easy-to-apply fames, so new models would have to be made. It would also be helpful to give them examples of how they would use these features and how that would be similar to what they currently do now. Once they were comfortable with using the features I explained above, then it might be appropriate to explain applications, chat, links, privacy, etc. since they will now have a better handle on the conventions and norms of Facebook. In terms of Grudin’s discussion of return on investment, as long as it can be made clear that invested time and effort is outweighed by the value gained through Facebook, the 40-60 yos will feel happy that they’ve gained a return on their investment. Considering this, it might be prudent to let the users try each feature after I’ve explained it and have a demonstration of what the impact would be, so that they understand how powerful Facebook is and so that they don’t get discouraged with all training and no benefit.
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I didn't really think about the newsfeed when I made my post. In hindsight though, that should have been first and foremost. You do a good job of explaining it to a newbie, and imply a positive spin on it. I would think some 40-60 year olds would be very put off by the broadcasting of their personal info, and it might make them uncomfortable with all of Facebook. I think the newsfeed is definitely something that should be explained right away, especially to a generation not quite as open as ours is with personal information.
ReplyDeleteYour discussion of technological frames highlights the fact that 40-60 year olds will be familiar with certain aspects of Facebook. For other aspects, they will need to build new conceptual models. It is important to introduce the familiar pieces first, and then ease people into using features that are new to them. Also, your last sentence is very pertinent. Older generations might understand Facebook's capabilities, but simply not value them. For some strange reason, we enjoy broadcasting our everyday activities and feelings. I think some older people would not share our fascination with publicizing that information.
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