Generations of online communication

For this week you have asked me to interview different generations about their internet use. First I will outline their responses and finally I will respond to the interviews as a whole.

The 24 year-old
First of all I interviewed my brother, who is 24. He has recently graduated from PSU with a four year degree is GIS mapping. This career involves creating online maps of terrain and watersheds. He describes his internet use as vital to his education, career, and personal life. During the time he was in college he relied on the internet, and emails to turn in assignment, talks with other students, and take online classes. Internet and computer skills were a very important part of college life. In the past year after his graduation he has been looking for employment. He explained to me that most of the applications and resumes that are turned in to employers is online. He talked about his frustration with that process, because it was hard to get the interviewer to remember him during the decision making process. It would be much easier if he could talk to the interviewer in person. As far as his personal life he stays in touch with classmates, roommates, and friends via email. He also told me that he often purchases goods online because he could order exactly what he wanted without having to go to more than one store. He is very confidant in his internet use and is not intimidated by trying new software, or websites.

The 39 year-old
The second person I interviewed for this assignment is my husband. His internet usage is very different from my brother. My husband in school did not study or use computers for turning in assignments. The only class that even related to computer use was typing which was done on a typewriter. Of which he explains he hated the class and did not retain any skills in typing. He still to this day hunts and pecks while typing although I encourage him to try using more traditional typing styles. As for his work life he is a maintenance man for a local athletic club. For his job his internet usage includes ordering parts, emailing distributors, and communicating with other managers via email. He is often very frustrated by this part of his job. Although he can complete these tasks it takes him longer than he wishes. I think this is due to the lack of typing skills. He uses the internet personally to look up things. For instance yesterday he asked, "How long did the civil war last?" When he does not get an answer or does not know it he looks it up. The main thing he uses the internet for is purchasing goods. He often looks for very specific items that can only be ordered online. Although he enjoys the internet he does not think it is necessary or vital to his life in anyway. He explains that the same things can be done in person that can be done online. He prefers communicating with friends and family on the phone rather than online.

The 84 year-old
The third person that I interviewed was my grandmother. She has never been employed and never used computers for school. She talks about the internet strictly from a recreational point of view. Her main usage of the internet is to email her friends and family. The mainly email jokes, poems, stories, and pictures. She emails them almost daily and it is how she communicates with her friends. She is very hard of hearing therefore the phone conversations she once was able to carry have become more difficult. Therefore email was her perfect answer. She explained to me that she does not often surf the internet because she fears online viruses. She is still on dial up so anything she does online takes a very long time. I asked her if she had ever ordered online and she said that she did very little shopping neither online or in store. She explained that she was afraid to give her bank information online so she would just take down a phone number and call the company rather than purchasing online. She said that the internet had brought joy to her life because she reconnected with friends she had previously had difficulty communicating with. She explained however if the internet and computers were gone tomorrow she would not have any difficulty in her personal life. In our reading this week for Wood and Smith we read about cookies. I asked grandma if she knew what a cookie was and she said no. I then walked to her computer and deleted her cookies and explained what they were and the possibility that her personal information might be shared with companies in which she had cookies. She responded that she couldn't imagine how they would get her personal information. This seemed to really bother her. I showed her how to delete them after internet use and she seemed happy. I found this very interesting as she had no clue that her information would be shared when she was so careful with her personal information. This is a real fear of hers in regards to computer usage. She feels very vulnerable and works hard to protect herself. My grandfather is long gone and she often gets nervous that someone will see her as prey.

My response to the interviews:
The main thing that I learned from these interviews is that the more a person depends on the internet for work, school and personal life the more skills they have. However when they depend on online communication their social skills change. For instance my brother rarely talks to anyone on the phone. He explains that email is so much easier. In a face to face conversation he does not have difficulty however his preference to online communication has changed. I believe the older generations use of the internet differs for everyone. For my husband and grandmother they have found a way to be updated on their internet skills, but do not prefer it to face to face communication. I am not sure which is the best way as I am in the middle. I use email to relay facts, such as confirming appointments, information sharing, and quick messages to other staff. The real conversations seem best in the face to face communication. My hope is that future generations see this as important. It is very hard to bond via the computer. The idea of cookies did not bother my brother or husband but had a real impact on my grandmother. Wood and Smith explain that there is some limited danger in cookies but the real problem is the opportunity for people to know who is visiting their website. This was an interesting assignment because the three people reacted very differently.

Emily