Hey guys! Hope you're all getting ready for the weekend!
My assignment is Internet Users and Audiences, focusing on Senior Citizens. I've joined the social networking site Eons (think that's a very clever name for the website!). I've spent four hours on the site already, half productive and half not so much. My first two hours entailed trying to friend people right away and making status's about why I joined the site. I found that this approach was not effective or productive. I found that people were very skeptical of me and my reasoning for wanting to network with them.
Finally, I was able to have someone talk to me. Her name is Sue, and she is a very nice lady from Wisconsin, the first group I joined, Wisconsin Living. She gave me some really good tips which helped my second two hours become very productive. She suggested that I should fully complete my profile with my background information and activities/interests. I found that to be extremely valuable. Once we started talking through a thread on the Wisconsin Living group, many more people began interacting with me and asking for some more details on my project. A cool thing is that there is that there is a thread just on me, entitled "Hi Jared F." Through this method I was able to formally become friends with four members (may not sound like a lot, but for more than a week I had none!) Also, I have been able to talk to ten members through threads on this group, gaining more information on them and why they became members of the site.
Interestingly, for most of the members, they came across the website from ads from other website such as Yahoo!. As anticipated, they became members because they liked that it's focus was on people in their own age group. They like to talk about their experiences in life, and in this way they keep it pretty light. I noticed some discussion on the Gov. Walker's bill, but they made it clear that politics is not a big topic they like to discuss, but that this issue was too big to not mention it at all. Also, others like to join groups of their interests and just be able to talk about it. An example of is the Computes Technology and Internet Solutions Center, where people post computer questions, and other users with a lot of experience will post their answers to member's questions.
In the future, I want to get deeper into what other activities the users use the internet for. Where or not they consider the site a 'community' and if they feel the internet has making their lives easier, or if it has only distanced themselves from today's fast paced living.
I'll keep updating my findings!
Again, Have a good weekend!
~Jared
I think that you have a very interesting topic, especially because you dont really think of senior citizens as social networkers. Also, I find it interesting that you were an outsider on a social networking site, when you have more experience than most of those people combined. Ill actually read what you find in the future because it sounds quite interesting and I wanna see if they warm up to you at all. But I do have a question for your. What is there motive for social networking? Is this a website for seniors to talk to others about health issues, are they on this site because they are immobile, etc?
ReplyDeleteThis particular project really proves to me that the Internet is built for anyone. Just thinking of my grandparents (who are still avid users of dial-up Internet), it really makes me realize that anyone can go online. And, as this particular points out, there are actually specific sites designed for the older generation. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for some of the conversations among the "regular" users who are senior citizens. I wonder if they talk about current events, Lady Gaga or where the best spot to get a good deal on dentures is. It's sort of weird--I think--for me to go on the site and be an outcast, especially when it's really my generation that has witnessed this boom in technology. Old people are more savvy with this site than I am. Odd.
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