Jan 22 2010
The Bad Computer User and How to Reach Them
After viewing our assigned readings, the section that caught my attention the most was within Henry Jenkins’ work Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. On pages thirteen and fourteen, Jenkins discusses the problem of “The Participation Gap.” He explains the digital divide in a way that I have never heard before and I strongly connected to it. His argument is that having access to the internet is not enough because there are levels of internet accessibility. He states, “What a person can accomplish with an outdated machine in a public library with mandatory filtering software and no opportunity for storage or transmission pales in comparison to what a person can accomplish with a home computer with unfettered Internet access, high bandwidth, and continuous connectivity” (Jenkins 13).
Although Jenkins was emphasizing the internet filtering and “unfettered internet access” as major problems in this statement, the aspect that moved me the most was when he indicated that a digital divide may occur if one is using an “outdated machine.” I strongly believe that an old computer greatly impacts an individual’s online usage as I was one of those users.
My history of computer ownership has been pretty pathetic. My parents owned a second hand, very slow, computer while I was in high school. I had a second hand, yes again, laptop for the first half of my undergraduate degree. When that one broke down, I purchased a low-budget beater from Future Shop that, I feel, never worked properly. The thing took ten minutes to boot up and would freeze if I opened one too many windows online. I waited on pins and needles every time I opened a new window wondering if I had gone too far. Not to mention that I couldn’t open half of the attachments that were sent via email.
As a result of my bad experiences with computers, I came to the conclusion that I did not like computers. I found them frustrating, exhausting, and unreliable. For the longest time, my computer was used solely to write assignments and quickly check emails. Being on my computer became a chore and I avoided it as mush as possible.
However, in the last couple of years I have had a great change of heart. I have had the opportunity to use other computers that actually “work” and two months ago, I finally broke down and purchased my first Mac computer. Although I might be eating KD until I graduate because of it, my experience on my new computer has been GLORIOUS! I have never navigated through a computer with such ease. All of a sudden I want to be online.
It never occurred to me until now that my bad computers may have been pushing me to the lower half of the digital divide. And if that is the case for myself, how many children, teens, or adults are experiencing the same frustration that I went through?
Daniel Hooker offers a few great suggestions that would lessen the frustrations of any bad computer user (Note: when I say “bad computer user” I am referring to someone who owns a bad computer, not a person who is bad at using a computer) within his article, 10 ways library schools should be teaching social media. The points that I think were exceptional include:
Point #3 – “News Gathering and Research.” Hooker stresses that as long as librarians take the time to find quality information, social media is excellent. If librarians follow this suggestion and strive to offer quality news, there is a higher chance that they will reach the bad computer user. This is due to the fact that it is not as time consuming for the user (who, if at all like my old self, wants to get off the computer as quickly as possible). If they can receive great information quickly, they are likely to visit the library’s website frequently.
Point #4 – “Crowdsourcing” – I believe that library groups on such online communities as facebook, or twitter greatly assist in keeping bad computer users in the loop. By being a part of an online community, the user has the option of viewing library updates while checking their facebook, or twitter account. If the library is not on one of these online communities this user is less likely to receive library updates since it means searching the library webpage. This additional step may be too inconvenient for a user who owns an old, unreliable computer.
Point #6 – “Blog and Website Integration” – it is very valuable to integrate your blog posts into library websites because the bad computer users are more likely to read these posts. If they have to click onto a link to view a different page, there is a high possibility that they will avoid it due to the fact that it will take too much time or freeze their computer.
These are my thoughts for this week. Feel free to let me know what you think.