Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Whether you realize it or not, your age effects the way you interact with technology.
Technology is everywhere and each day more and more people are getting online and joining social networking sites in order to connect with their friends, family, co-workers and to conduct their business. It is the way of the world now, and no one is excluded. If you have been looking for a job recently, then you know what I mean. Almost all jobs are found online these days. In fact, it has become rare to go into a place of business and ask for an application. Most of the time, the employees will direct you to their website.
Still, the way that we use technology has a lot to do with our age group. For example, I am a GenXer and my daughter is a member of the millenial generation. My parents were baby boomers and we all use our computers differently. (For the sake of clarity, Generation X is typically people born between 1961-1981, Millenials were born between 1982-2002 and Baby Boomers were born between 1943-1961)
Recently my daughter was talking to her friends on Twitter and planning to get together with them on an upcoming trip she was taking. I was amazed by how fast they were all able to communicate and come up with a plan of when and where to meet. When I commented on it, she asked me what we did "back in the old days". (just to give you an idea of when those "old days" were for me, I graduated high school in 1991).
I told her that even though we didn't have the internet or Twitter or cell phones, we still all managed to get together. Of course, we typically only hung out at a few locations, so a good Friday night involved driving around to those places to see who was there and then repeating the process every hour or so. We also spent lots of time at home on the phone, calling our friends at their homes. This all sounded a little confusing to her, and I understand. For her generation, you can check your friend's Foursquare, Twitter feed or Facebook status to find out where they are. If that doesn't work, you can call or text them on their cellphone. To her, imagining a life without the internet and mobile devices is difficult.
Still, the internet came along by the time I was in my early twenties, and email was just a part of adult life. For people in my parent's generation, using the internet for daily activities took a little bit longer. Now, with Facebook and other social sites, people are using their computers more and everyone is starting to get on the same page. Even so, there are still some differences.
Here are some of the ways we act our age online:
Still, the internet came along by the time I was in my early twenties, and email was just a part of adult life. For people in my parent's generation, using the internet for daily activities took a little bit longer. Now, with Facebook and other social sites, people are using their computers more and everyone is starting to get on the same page. Even so, there are still some differences.
Here are some of the ways we act our age online:
- The way we think about technology - If you listen to most Baby Boomers, they will say things like "I looked this up on the computer" or "She can call my cell phone". For most Gen Xers and all millenials the technology is just implied. They might look things up, call or text someone but they don't feel the need to specify the technology used.
- Our love of technology - Believe it or not, Gen Xers are, for the most part, the group that is the most in love with technology. They love gadgets and they enjoy customizing and personalizing their experience. They also are the group that runs the biggest risk of being addicted or trapped by their devices. Baby Boomers, on the other hand still enjoy using technology, but they aren't as likely to build their lives around it. For the Millenials, technology has always been a part of their lives and even though the depend on it, they are more likely to be the ones who use micro blogging and status updates as a way to making connecting with others in real time easier. They are aware that too much technology is a bad thing and find it easy to unplug and talk with each other face to face or over the phone.
- Moving parts, scrolling and Flash - Boomers are the group that is less likely to want to scroll down to read thing. They get frustrated if a website has too many flashing things or uses a lot of Flash animation. Gen Xers like to scroll and don't mind animations. Millennials get bored without them and prefer sites that are constantly changing.
- Social networking - Gen Xers love sites like Twitter and Millennials are crazy about Facebook.(although many Gen Xers use Facebook just for family or for playing social games) Boomers use both sites but are often still a little uncertain about both.
- These differences don't change as we age - It's easy to think that as Gen Xers grow, they will become more like Boomers and that Millennials will change as they mature. It's just not true. The differences are more a part of the world in which they were born into and they aren't going to change very much. It will be interesting to see what the next generation will bring to the table.
What do you think about these differences? Which group do you belong to? Do you think that you act your age online? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for EducationJobsiteBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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