Explaining Facebook to an older crowd would require a bit more grounding. Rather than explain how it is a “social network” that allows people to “connect with their friends,” I would explain to them the concrete tasks that people often perform while on Facebook. For example, I would explain that the message function is analogous to email, and that there is photo sharing functionality, and an event management system. I would go into the reasons why each of these are important and why they would benefit the end user.
Orlikowski discusses “reward systems” in relation to the use of a new technology. In this instance, by joining Facebook, the 40-60 year old user could connect with friends and family and constantly stay updated on what they are doing and new developments in their lives.
Hands on, one-on-one training is by far the most effective way to go about educating the new users on their technology. Walking them through individual use cases, such as creating an account, writing on someone’s wall, or uploading a photo, would be much more effective communicated one-on-one rather than via a tutorial video or written instruction.
Overall, explaining how Facebook works can be done relatively easily, but must be explained differently than a younger user who is more ingrained in the community.
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Nice how you integrate grounding in this post. Why do you think explaining the concrete tasks that people perform on Facebook is more important than explaining the big picture of the social network? Although I agree with you that having them take small steps so that the cost of adoption is not high is important, I also think having them understand how powerful Facebook is in keeping you connected with people you know is a necessary perspective to give them.
ReplyDeleteAs Jon said, the grounding is a nice way to bring what we've been talking about in class and connect it. In a way, I would also think of the grounding as a way to push out that technological frame of the user. Facebook obviously encompasses lots of different technologies that people use to connect. What makes people use it though? Why are we using it compared to an older generation? Would there be differences between how the two generations would use it, and how would you deal it?
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point by relating the Lotus Notes example to explaining Facebook to users. Perhaps older people would not automatically "pick up" on using the site like you did, so sitting down with them one-on-one is a good idea. However, I agree with Jon's comment that they need to understand (eventually) that Facebook does more than just combine email, photo sharing, event management, etc. into one place.
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