If I was to explain Facebook to 40-60 year old individuals, I would explain “how to” use Facebook to my aunt for example who is in that range in basic non technological terms. She uses the computer like most individuals these days within that range. I would tell her it is a tool to network with people that you know and meet friends. With Facebook, you sign in and can search for people that you may know. I would explain how they could form groups much like they would do in the real world by creating it then asking or requesting others to join. I would tell them about the services that all the buying and selling or goods and the promotion of events. I would suggest that they start slow by signing on then adding a couple friends by searching for them, then looking through the different groups and tools. By adding a couple of friends they could receive and send out requests to join groups or come to events or purchase items.
The training that I would design is going from the most important and useful techniques to the hardest and less useful techniques. I would start out by adding a friend, I would then show them how to send and receive messages and instant messages. From there I would teach them how to manipulate their page to show what they would like to convey. From there the last subject that I would go over is the marketplace and how to add items to it and look for items. The rewards that I would discuss are those most apparent such as building a network and getting messages across to people that you want such as what organizations you take part in.
Orlikowski discusses how people understand how to use new technologies based on existing technological frames. Frames that are associated with users such as my aunt would include their basic use of the computer which Facebook enhances and uses for specific purposes such as the ability to search for almost everything. The roles of some of these frames would be useful for example signing on to computers is the same as signing on to Facebook. The frames technology wise and in the actual world such as joining groups, being a part of communities, and scheduling and finding out about events . Older ways of getting users to come to events could be used. The idea of going online from the actual world has to pose a high return on investment and be easier than in the real world. This return could be gaining friends faster than in the actual world or advertising for an event faster and quicker than in the actual world.
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I definitely have aunts in the same age range and I feel like I would go about describing facebook the same way. Most of my aunts though can't do as much as the average person can on a computer. Surfing the internet and using Microsoft Word are as far as they go with a computer, so it would probably be harder for me to explain facebook to them. In the end though, I would present facebook as a networking tool and instead of calling people, they can now connect with people over the internet.
ReplyDeleteExplaining a new technology such as Facebook becomes difficult when the user is only familiar with the basics. This, however, increases the importance of technological frames and any training the user may receive. I agree with you that it would be important to explain Facebook as a tool for joining groups and scheduling events, but I think it is also important to give a solid reference. What other networking tools are out there that let you do some of the same things? This type of reference depends entirely on the person, but a contact book, for example, may help to explain something like this.
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