Perhaps the question that the “Growing Up Online” documentary didn’t cover is how the availability and popularity of the Internet, and perhaps more so the social networking sites (OSN for short), are effecting the previous generation. Since the documentary came out in early 2008, I’ve noticed a proliferation of adults on Facebook.
Some I’m sure are there in order to keep track of their children, as called spying by those who are being “kept track of”. Some adults though are now becoming fully integrated into the world of online social networking. They are finding old friends and making new ones and even using the plethora of applications available to them on the site. The Borg like spread of OSN has gotten to point that an Australian court has allowed sending a message on Facebook to be considered a way of serving legally binding documents1. Many companies are even going to Facebook and MySpace in order to research job applicants, and many of them are not liking what they find2.
Because of this generation’s interconnectedness with the Internet and technology as a whole, previous generations are being forced to learn things like what being “poked” means or how to type in texting jargon. Will the previous generations be able to keep up with this technology infused generation? How will that affect the “Online Generation”? Or will they simply, in the words of a fellow student’s Facebook status update, “realize that they will never understand Facebook”?
1) see http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2008-12-16-australia-facebook_N.htm
2) see http://www.zdnetasia.com/techjobs/career-resources/0,3800009355,62050688,00.htm
And http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/02/06/news/nh453376.txt
I think that the older generation who want to keep in touch with changing technology can. Those who don't care about it will be left out of the loop but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI've personally had to work with some older generation people with technology and it can be frustrating. But those who want to learn will try and progress in their level of tech-savviness ( I don't know if that's a word.) Those who don't care will just be left out, and that's probably fine with them.
I think that as time goes on, everyone will be on and will understand sites like Facebook or MySpace. And over time, people will learn what not to put on their profile pages. This could be a problem like Porter said, when applying for a job or just meeting a new person. Through Facebook, people can get to know you without really knowing you and sometimes that can be a scary thing. People can also judge you without getting to know you.
Eventually everyone will grow more accustomed to being part of the "Online Generation" and the confusion will die off.
I heard a story two days ago about the growth of Twitter. Although it severely restricts the number of characters (like IM or TXT), people are using it to do job searches. They create a Twitter group and use it as though they were networking at a job fair. But they can obviously create groups all over the country to help them look for employment possibilities. Of course most of the current users are young MBAs who find themselves recently redundant. They are not geezers like me who are tech-savvily challenged.
ReplyDeleteI think a very strong number of the older generation are very adept to facebook. My mom and my aunts and several of the adults from my church and such now have them. And what's interesting is at this point it seems pretty natural, not creepy or like their just there to keep an eye on us young folk, but they really use it for keeping up with everyone they know. It's such a part of our society that it makes since for everyone and their dog to be on facebook. As for the companies looking into potential employees, this doesn't worry me. I have long known of that possibility and I tend to keep my online pages clean and civil and conduct myself online much the same way I would in any public setting.
ReplyDeleteI find that it is becoming more and more common for adults to utilize facebook and other socializing networks as a way to communicate with others. I was surprised when my assistant manager and one of the customers admitted to having a facebook, and recently my aunt joined the network as well.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I used to take great pains to only friend people I knew rather than friends of friends, but now have taken to trying to put less personal information on facebook. There are dangers out there, and to be knowledgeable of them and know they're there is the most important thing for all users.
Eventually, facebook will consume the world. And there will be more predators as more adults become adept with technology. This is fact rather than speculation. The question now should be where might we go next, and what potential dangers will be there.
In my experience, most of the adults that I know of on facebook are one for one of two reasons: to keep tabs on their kids and their kids' friends, or to keep in touch with friends and family. However, much of their activity is still pretty basic in contrast to all of the things that you can do on facebook. However, as with almost everything, there are exceptions, because there are a couple of adults that I know do everything that the kids do. I think that for right now, most of the adults who are interested in such websites have signed up, and from now on, the number will grow only as our online generation ages
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