Second Class Citizens on the social web
Posted by Robert Frittmann on 17 June 2009
In this blog post, Fred Stutzman examines further the issue of whether Twitter has become the hangout of the 20-plus generation, and if it really is not as popular with teens, as a recent study from Pace University and the Particpatory Marketing Network suggests.
Fred considers the question of “connectivity” from two perspectives: the tradtional interpretation (that of “the ability to access the internet”); and also of how “connected” we are once we are on the Internet. From this viewpoint, Fred asserts that the younger generation have the upper hand, as they are more geared towards migrating their real-life friendships onto the Internet. He also mentions what I would call the “coming out” of the older generation on social network sites.
My basic theory argues that as social norms and personal networks reward non-deceptive identities, people are more likely to share and participate in online communities. Put another way, as it becomes more OK to share (it stops being weird to use your real name on your Facebook profile), and more of your friends do it, you’re more likely to extend this type of participation to other parts of the web. Notably, the driving force of this theory is simple connectivity, which establishes the preconditions for the social shifts. For Twitter, there is a whole new old generation of web users coming online and embracing social software – because it is now socially OK to do so, because they have the connectivity and connections they need to feel worthwhile sharing, etc. And it just so happens that a lot of these people seem to have found Twitter.
This is something that I totally agree with the writer on. I myself fall into this category, someone aged 30-plus who has been “connected” for longer than the Internet has been fashionable and popular, who was a nerd and a geek from the 1970′s, but of whom you will not find much information about online prior to 2009. I have only recently “come out” from behind my aliases and have started claiming my own name at last. Fortunately for me, my surname Frittmann is fairly uncommon in the English-speaking world, and I have not had much trouble claiming my identity on the Web.
Stutzman also mentioned in his post that he’s planning to do a long-term study on the effects of age on user’s loyalty to online social communities. I hope to be part of this study… “If you are an older user of social software and might like to participate in my research interviews, keep watching this space for announcements.”
