Geritaric1927's first video which has 2,880,152 views
“Is that thing attached to you, or can you put it down?” frequently reiterated by my mum when she is referring to my mobile phone. To the ‘younger’ generations, or mainly those from the ages of 14-25 the mobile phone has almost become another limb, or an extension of our arms. I physically cannot just leave my phone lying around anywhere, as if at any moment I could be called with an emergency, which has not happened yet and I have had a mobile since I was 12 years old. My mum however is able to leave her mobile in her bedroom, the kitchen or even the car, without caring in the slightest. It makes me think of new media and how the different generations are adapting with the mass expansion of digital media in the 21st century.
Being a new media addict I constantly text, have Twitter, Myspace and Facebook, a blog (or two) and am constantly on the internet shopping and browsing. I have been brought up into a world where these things are available, compulsory for social means and are quickly becoming second nature; however, the older generations have had to adapt to everything. Facebook and Twitter would not have been the new trends at work and they were not taught to surf the internet in school, surely then, these things considered, there should not be many adults aged 34+ using the internet on a daily basis?
The American researchers ‘Pew Internet and American life project’ conducted a study about the different generations’ use of the internet; ranging from the age of 18 to 74+ looking at emailing, social networking and health information as just some of the areas of the internet. Their studies have shown that 60-69% of people aged 34-45 also known as Gen X now use social networking, more than I would have guessed but not too shocking. What surprised me most from their findings was: “While the youngest generations are still significantly more likely to use social network sites, the fastest growth has come from internet users 74 and older: social network site usage for this oldest cohort has quadrupled since 2008, from 4% to 16%.” (Zickuhr, 2010)
Even the oldest of users are beginning to jump on the new media band wagon. Some are even branching out to produce their own media. Geriatric1927, who is obviously in the older category of user judging by his username, started a series of autobiographical videos on YouTube in 2006 and according to the article ‘What Are The Silver Surfers Up To Online?’ written by Lauren Fisher (2010), he became one of the most subscribed-to channels in a week and he still regularly up-dates his channel.
It seems from recent findings that the older generations are adapting very well to the new media. When thinking about it, it makes sense that now the medium has taken off the older generations would use it more, perhaps not for social networking and downloading but for checking their emails, bank accounts, to keep up to date with the news and to shop online. Masses of information and opportunities are available on the internet; therefore a recommended age range cannot be applied.
In the Henry Jenkins article ‘Eight traits of the New Media Landscape’, he claims that ‘young people’ use new media differently to the older people.
“Young people and adults live in fundamentally different media environments, using communications technologies in different ways and forming contradictory interpretations of their experiences.” (Jenkins, 2006)
Although young people do use the media in a different way now, I do not believe it is because we younger people live in different media environments. I put the difference down to simply being brought up in different times and the ability to adapt to what we see as ‘the norm’. Some of the older generations, as proven in the Pew Study, are signing on to the idea of the internet and using it for similar reasons to the younger generations. The 60-69% of the Gen X age range that are using social networks must be doing so for social reasons; the same as the 80-89% of Millennials (ages 18-33) who use social networking sites (Zickhur, 2010).
It has become apparent to me that the language of the internet is a rapidly becoming the mother-tongue of most countries and ages, with no hope of losing momentum. The older generations are rapidly catching up with the younger generations when it comes to new media, meaning soon it will be a level playing ground.
Zickuhr, K (2010) Generations Online in 2010 [WWW] Available from: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Overview.aspx (Accessed on 29/12/10)Fisher, L (2010) What Are The Silver Surfers Up To Online? [WWW] Available from: http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/older-people-online/ (Accessed on 29/12/10)
Jenkins, H (2006) Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape [WWW] Available from: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2006/11/eight_traits_of_the_new_media.html
“Is that thing attached to you, or can you put it down?” frequently reiterated by my mum when she is referring to my mobile phone. To the ‘younger’ generations, or mainly those from the ages of 14-25 the mobile phone has almost become another limb, or an extension of our arms. I physically cannot just leave my phone lying around anywhere, as if at any moment I could be called with an emergency, which has not happened yet and I have had a mobile since I was 12 years old. My mum however is able to leave her mobile in her bedroom, the kitchen or even the car, without caring in the slightest. It makes me think of new media and how the different generations are adapting with the mass expansion of digital media in the 21st century.
Being a new media addict I constantly text, have Twitter, Myspace and Facebook, a blog (or two) and am constantly on the internet shopping and browsing. I have been brought up into a world where these things are available, compulsory for social means and are quickly becoming second nature; however, the older generations have had to adapt to everything. Facebook and Twitter would not have been the new trends at work and they were not taught to surf the internet in school, surely then, these things considered, there should not be many adults aged 34+ using the internet on a daily basis?
The American researchers ‘Pew Internet and American life project’ conducted a study about the different generations’ use of the internet; ranging from the age of 18 to 74+ looking at emailing, social networking and health information as just some of the areas of the internet. Their studies have shown that 60-69% of people aged 34-45 also known as Gen X now use social networking, more than I would have guessed but not too shocking. What surprised me most from their findings was: “While the youngest generations are still significantly more likely to use social network sites, the fastest growth has come from internet users 74 and older: social network site usage for this oldest cohort has quadrupled since 2008, from 4% to 16%.” (Zickuhr, 2010)
Even the oldest of users are beginning to jump on the new media band wagon. Some are even branching out to produce their own media. Geriatric1927, who is obviously in the older category of user judging by his username, started a series of autobiographical videos on YouTube in 2006 and according to the article ‘What Are The Silver Surfers Up To Online?’ written by Lauren Fisher (2010), he became one of the most subscribed-to channels in a week and he still regularly up-dates his channel.
It seems from recent findings that the older generations are adapting very well to the new media. When thinking about it, it makes sense that now the medium has taken off the older generations would use it more, perhaps not for social networking and downloading but for checking their emails, bank accounts, to keep up to date with the news and to shop online. Masses of information and opportunities are available on the internet; therefore a recommended age range cannot be applied.
In the Henry Jenkins article ‘Eight traits of the New Media Landscape’, he claims that ‘young people’ use new media differently to the older people.
“Young people and adults live in fundamentally different media environments, using communications technologies in different ways and forming contradictory interpretations of their experiences.” (Jenkins, 2006)
Although young people do use the media in a different way now, I do not believe it is because we younger people live in different media environments. I put the difference down to simply being brought up in different times and the ability to adapt to what we see as ‘the norm’. Some of the older generations, as proven in the Pew Study, are signing on to the idea of the internet and using it for similar reasons to the younger generations. The 60-69% of the Gen X age range that are using social networks must be doing so for social reasons; the same as the 80-89% of Millennials (ages 18-33) who use social networking sites (Zickhur, 2010).
It has become apparent to me that the language of the internet is a rapidly becoming the mother-tongue of most countries and ages, with no hope of losing momentum. The older generations are rapidly catching up with the younger generations when it comes to new media, meaning soon it will be a level playing ground.
Zickuhr, K (2010) Generations Online in 2010 [WWW] Available from: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Generations-2010/Overview.aspx (Accessed on 29/12/10)Fisher, L (2010) What Are The Silver Surfers Up To Online? [WWW] Available from: http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/older-people-online/ (Accessed on 29/12/10)
Jenkins, H (2006) Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape [WWW] Available from: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2006/11/eight_traits_of_the_new_media.html
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