A study conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project called, A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users, shows how people use technology to socially interact with others, as reported by News.com.
Their findings clearly show that despite adults accessibility and capability to use various forms of technology for communications purposes, very few engage in public forms of communication. They instead use private means of communication, such as cell phone text messaging and online instant messaging. This seems to be indicative of the generational divide, where the older generations value their personal privacy far more than the younger generations, who actively engage in social networking sites that broadcast personal information and communication in a more public manner.
With all the venture capital funding being thrown at new Web 2.0 start ups, if they fail to market themselves to the broader Internet population they will find that they can’t become successful enough to meet the expectations of investors and may end up shutting down.
This study’s findings could be significant in terms of the success or failure of social networking sites and the Web 2.0 movement as a whole. If the Web 2.0 movement continues to be unable to market beyond the younger generations and the tech savvy demographics, then their ability for market growth will be significantly limited, which could ultimately signal the bursting of the bubble for Web 2.0.
Originally posted on May 7, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
It seems that the lack of engagement by older users is not only driven their desire for privacy, but more by the lack of relevant value that is currently offered the large broad reaching social networks.
One of the main benefits of online communities to the web-savvy younger users is in the construction and definition of their identity, which is never going to be as important and relevant a proposition as users get a little older. They have already created their offline networks and communities elsewhere.
If social networks want to reach more adults, they need to be designed more specifically for them, and provide a unique value, conversation and a more niche community than exists in the the huge sites.
After recently reading Chris Anderson’s theory on “Spare Cycles” http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/05/the_awesome_pow.html
I think that it is just that adults in general use their spare cycles not on the web, but in other activities away from the web. Anderson theorizes that the web2.0 is built on people’s spare cycles, during typical downtime. Adult’s in general probably have less of that downtime.
Matt Zarzecki wrote:
“One of the main benefits of online communities to the web-savvy younger users is in the construction and definition of their identity, which is never going to be as important and relevant a proposition as users get a little older. They have already created their offline networks and communities elsewhere.
If social networks want to reach more adults, they need to be designed more specifically for them, and provide a unique value, conversation and a more niche community than exists in the the huge sites.”
This is an excellent point. I think most of us older folks who do actively contribute social network content are trying to position ourselves, either to carve out a specialized niche in the marketplace or for dating.
While nearly all teens and young adults are online, there is a large portion of the older population that basically still doesn’t do computers. Not all these folks are technophobes, either. Many just are perfectly happy living without them. These may well be the same folks who never wanted to bother to program their VCR.
I think that computer interfaces are still way too crude for a lot of older folks. The Mac/GUIs were a step in the right direction, but I bet that if the UI was truly powerful enough visually such a new generation of computers would pull in a lot of these folks, who DO like to watch TV. A lot of these aren’t scared of it, they simply don’t want to hassle with technology.
I agree that privacy is part of older adults’ reluctance to venture into the huge social networking sites. Safety is another reason, one that has been brought to the forefront as young people have been targeted by online predators.
Maybe us “old folks” have already learned the hard lessons that the “youngsters” ;-) still need to learn. Things like, “Never talk to strangers.”
As time goes on, Web 2.0 will mature along with the younger users, and the social rules will develop within that culture.
If all goes well, there will always be “younger” users, and there will probably be something newer and more awesome than Web 2.0 in a few years (maybe a few months). There will be individuals in every generation that “don’t want to hassle with technology.” (Hey, there are authors who still write books with typewriters, or with pencil on yellow legal pads!)
One of my favorite YouTube videos says it all: it’s the “1500s Laptop” video with the guy calling tech support to help him learn how to “turn the pages” of a “book.” Technology can be frightening or freeing.
I’m interested in being notified of follow-up comments.