Yesterday I was considering the commonly recognized generations – the Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. I had been watching HFI’s webcast on “the generational dilemma” as to who we are designing for. The speakers pointed out that most designers find themselves in Generation X, yet Generation Y is a much larger population, and in fact, X is a smaller group sandwiched between the Boomers and Y. So, are X’s realizing how they design, and whether it appeals to other X’s, or to Boomers and Y’s?
I was surprised when in a group with several people I considered roughly my age and older that the majority felt Facebook, Twitter, and other similar online tools were at best a waste of time. To me these are a way of life – instinctive and natural, and part of my day. I’m as likely to check Twitter first thing in the morning as I am to brush my teeth or wash my face. That is apparently a very Generation Y point of view.
I fit into Generation X at the end, or Generation Y at the beginning, depending which way you look at it. Different sources will place Generation Y born from 1976-1995 or 1982-2001, and I was born in 1980. A great friend who was only about four years older than myself and I used to discuss where the gap was between us; where the generational difference played out or went unrecognized. He insisted even those few years could make a difference in so many ways. For instance, even the television shows he grew up with were different then what I knew well. Still, I also was exposed to my mom and dad’s favourite shows such as The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie, so in a way, this shifted my perspective as well from others in my age group.
In Joshua Porter’s Designing for the Social Web, he begins by quoting Douglas Adams, in an imagined conversation between a future child and teacher. Through doing so, he illustrates how before television, people were engaged in interactive entertainment – sports, theater, music. And now, as the web grows and changes, people are again beginning to make interactive entertainment a very important element of their lives. Are tools such as Facebook and Twitter a waste of time? Or are they simply more interactive entertainment finally filling the gap that television has left in our lives?
I’m not sure it matters to me whether my friends use these tools. I know most of the friends I met offline first do not and refuse to. And yet I’ve made a wealth of wonderful online friends who do use them. I have made connections for networking and being mentored that have entirely changed my perspective and path. I don’t think it matters so much whether someone uses Facebook or not, but as a designer first, I think there’s value in trying it, if only to see what Generation Y sees. If you are too busy thinking yourself too good for such silly websites, perhaps you are too blind to the real meaning they have for society now, particularly in Generation Y. It would be a waste to ignore this demographic.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Stephen 11.22.08 at 8:18 am
To all watching: The comment she makes about when she checks Twitter… If I happen to be in the room, and take a peek at what she’s running when she first sits at the computer, Twitter is the *ONLY* thing running. Tiz true! Theres even days that she checks Twitter BEFORE she washes her face or brushes her teeth!
My thoughts on Facebook and Twitter in regards to whether or not Twitter/Facebook/etc are a waste of time… Well, I feel that these web applications are more towards a time waster, instead of a waste of time, to which then would could be considered a source of entertainment. As more and more people use their computers for better sources of entertainment, versus watching nothing but TreeHouse or sitcoms that really shouldn’t live past half a season, these two particular Web Applications do successfully fill the void of TV.
Myself, I was born at the beginning of 1976. I grew up with Computers since my dad first brought home a Vic20, then C64, then a 386sx-16, 486, Pentium 1. At about that time, I started getting my own Pentium 2s, several 3s, and still have multiple 4s and now a Core 2 Duo as my main machine (I’m an Intel freak!). My computers are, without a doubt, a necessity of my life. Although, I check my Facebook account maybe once a month, and only because I’m bored. I don’t have Twitter account because keeping up on all the messages bore me, or I lose interest, annoy me with popups that someones `tweeted` and quite frankly, don’t think I’d have anything of value to add.
erica 11.22.08 at 9:51 am
Maybe I should do more investigation on who uses Twitter in terms of demographics, and why. I don’t think it’s a “computer geek” thing, but now I wonder if I’m more Generation Y than I realize.
That said, I do know a lot of UX/IA designers who use Twitter. I think it is worth checking out in terms of both understanding Generation Y, and social media/marketing in general. The reality is people build communities and the impacts of marketing (Stephen – ask me about Motrin Moms later) are huge across the “Twittersphere”.