It’s been twenty-two years since I graduated high school (holy cow it seems insane to say that!), and this past weekend I spent a few hours with some of my closest high-school girlfriends. We’ve met a few times in the last several years, usually over a holiday when most of the girls from out-of-town would be around visiting with their families.
The last time we met was four years ago at my house and it was a fantastic evening. Two of us were pregnant at the time and we spent hours and hours catching up, eating great food, and laughing at stories we all had to share. It was really special and made me so glad to reconnect with friends I’d spent so much time with in high school. I’m sad to say that this time was much different.
This time much of the talk was technology-related and I guess that’s to be expected when you look at how much has changed in our culture in the last several years, but what surprised me is that I was surrounded by a group of people that were so negative about technology and how it’s being used today. Some of the comments made were about Facebook with one friend asking, “Is it like email?” and “Is it like chatting?”. Other friends complained about cell phones and how they hated feeling like people could call them all the time. Another friend went so far as to say that soon children would be born with only thumbs because all kids do these days is text. Also heard that evening, “Aren’t you glad we didn’t have cell phones and camera phones when we were younger? I’d have HATED for all we did to be captured!”.
I tried to explain Web 2.0 and what it’s all about and how important it is, and why they should care, but I’m fairly sure no one heard me. I tried to explain Facebook and why they might want to be there and connect with others, but I don’t think they ‘got it’. I tried to tell them that younger kids today prefer texting to emailing and chatting because it’s mobile and they can stay connected wherever they are, but I don’t think they cared. It honestly made me frustrated, confused, and sad. I left the party wondering when my friends changed and why they no longer seemed to care about how the world was changing around them.
I think that we forget that not everyone knows about how things are changing. Not everyone has a Facebook profile, or a text messaging plan. Not everyone knows what a blog is, or RSS. I didn’t even mention twitter because I was afraid their heads might explode or they’d come after me with fire and pitchforks.
When you’re as immersed in the culture as much as we are, it’s so easy to forget how far others are outside of this circle. When you read books like The Rise of the Creative Class, it saddens me to feel as though I’m leaving my friends behind.
My friends are intelligent people. They have full-time jobs, they work with teenagers, they have children, they’ve graduated from prestigious schools and work for wonderful companies.. and they don’t get it. If *they* don’t get it.. how many others don’t get it either. How can we help them to understand and see the benefits if they’re so far behind that they don’t know the difference between email and IM?
We’ve talked previously about ‘invitations’ and how important it is for us to invite people to participate in our online communities, but more and more I’m thinking we need to dig a little deeper than that. I think we need some serious hand-holding, demonstrating, and mentoring to bring people into this conversation. We owe it to them to not let them fall behind.
4 responses so far ↓
Tara Tallman // December 2, 2008 at 7:04 pm |
I’ve been in similar scenarios, and I love the crucial moment when the look on their face goes from being excited and curious… to being a little uncertain… then they look at you like you’re an alien.
I think about this a lot lately. I really wish all of my friends and family were as excited about these things as I’ve become. I sometimes feel like I know more about my Twitter community than I do about my own family. But there also seems to be a threshold on convincing them it’s a worthwhile pursuit. Anything more than a gentle nudge of encouragement seems to yield hesitation or distaste. I’ve knocked my enthusiasm down a few notches which tends to leave people more curious than skeptical, and that helps.
micala // December 2, 2008 at 7:10 pm |
I agree, but I think what saddens me the most is when they don’t care to listen or learn. I can’t imagine the time would ever come when I wouldn’t want to LEARN or LISTEN to a friend tell me about something new or something they were interested in. Why would people be so hesitant about something that they would immediately disregard it without even questioning or wanting to learn more?
Dana Kletchka // January 14, 2009 at 5:29 pm |
It has been interesting trying to explain all of these applications to other museum staff and volunteers. Some people shake their heads, while others have actually joined FB to see what some of the fuss is about (SL and Twitter, not so much…). Others don’t necessarily see personal value in them but appreciate that we are endeavoring to connect with those who choose to use these technologies to engage with other people.
Just think of it this way…you were paving the way for acceptance by your friends. Because like it or not, these technologies (and their replacements) aren’t going away.
micala // January 14, 2009 at 5:44 pm |
It does seem like Facebook is the lowest-barrier tool we see students using too. I think it’s the least threatening thing to start with. Twitter and SL are still hard to understand for a lot of people, but I think that over time that’ll all change.