The Digital Divide: The Challenge of Engaging a Wider Social Media Audience

Michael Rees @mreesSchool of Information Technology

Carolyn McDonald @camcdInformation Services

Slides at: go.mrees.co/abcslides

Technology Influences

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/head-in-the-cloud-20110731-1i66s.html

July 2011 http://www.go-gulf.com/60seconds.jpg

The Big 3

http://blog.jess3.com/2011/05/the-geosocial-universe-2-0.html

Twitter App Universe

Hashtag for today? #abcgc11

Twitter App Toolkits at http://oneforty.com

TweetStats

visual.ly

Google+ SWOT Analysis

Strengths• hired seasoned staff• cloned best features• expert at scalable systems• existing ad environment

Opportunity• integrate with other Google

systems: o searcho emailo apps

Weakness• limited feature set• no links to other Google

systems• not compelling for Fb switch• low user base as yet

Threats• feature war• email platforms can quickly

catch up

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2011/08/01/strategy-five-ways-google-can-become-mainstream/

Social Media Technology

The Myths – Gender (Data from Feb 2011)

http://blog.kissmetrics.com/social-media-by-demographic/

The Myths - Income

 The Myths - Age

The Data• Between April 2009 and May 2010, social

networking use among internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88%--from 25% to 47%.

• During the same period, use among those ages 65 and older grew 100%--from 13% to 26%.

• By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13%—from 76% to 86%.

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Older-Adults-and-Social-Media.aspx

Pew reports(US based)

Social networking and our lives – June 16 2011

“how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement”

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks/Summary.aspx

1.The social networking crowd is getting older

2.Facebook users are more trusting, have closer relationships, and get more social support than other people

3.Women lead the way in SNS use for adults

4.Depending on who you want to reach, it is worth taking a closer look at the ethnicity, age, and education levels of the individual platforms

The Myths - Participation

The Digital Divide

what do you see?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsisodiya/4039713671/

So what?

Social capital, engagement, participation, information

Barriers – Access, Ability, Attitude

• Gold Coast Seniors OntheNet – access and training

• Libraries – access and training

Attitude

How and why are you using socmed?

Twitter – 1167 v 63. • Strategic decisions?• Engagement or broadcast?• Participation of communities? Going to meet

your community in their space?

• Objectives?• What will success look like?

http://smcgoldcoast.com