The One Where Our Parents Killed FaceBook
Digital Natives are those Gen-Z and Millennials who grew up in the age of technology. For many it's like a second language. They know the lingo, whats cool and whats not when it comes to technology, the internet and social networks. On the other hand the Digital Immigrants are living in a new world. Comprehending what all this technology is, how it's used and why we need it in our lives. As time goes on, I think these Digital Immigrants are coming around to the world of tech and starting to dabble with some of the popular sites. One of those being FaceBook.
When FaceBooks first launched, it was a new concept and extremely exclusive. Every young person wanted to be on FaceBook. While some may remember MySpace as one of the pioneers of social networks, it wasn't until FaceBook launched and then grew in popularity that the social network craze really began. Hey, they did make a movie about FaceBook called the Social Network, didn't they? As FaceBook started as a social network for college aged students, grew to high schooler and began as a place for young people to connect, why is it that today, there is a decline in Gen-Z and Millennial users? Did our parents, or these so-called Digital immigrants, take over FaceBook and "kill" it for the Digital Natives?
According to many young FaceBooks users, or past users, the answer is yes. Once their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc joined FaceBook, it killed it for them. Although FaceBook is far from disappearing, its original target market has shifted drastically, with the younger generations leaving or using the site less and less. These Millennials and Gen-Z users feel that it is now becoming a place for their parents to keep tabs on them.
While FaceBook tries to sell itself as a community, is that what it really is? While I do think FaceBook has great features, I am not sure it has the draw to Millennials by giving them what they crave in a social network. With so many Groups you can join, you can really find a sense of community on FaceBook by finding groups and pages that interest you. After you sift through all the negative comments, false information and just irrelevant posts, there is some good content to be found from like-minded individuals. Collective Intelligence some may call it-intelligence that comes from the collaboration of many individuals. But do young people care about that? Do they care about gaining intelligence from those with similar interests and thoughts? Or do they care about how many likes they can get on a picture of them on vacation or with their new puppy? Maybe that is why Instagram and Snapchat draw the attention of the younger generations and not the older ones like FaceBook? Are the Baby Boomer and Gen-X populations looking for something in a social network that the Gen-Z and Millennials are not? Can FaceBook go back to its roots and capture the younger users or are they lost forever because their parents killed FaceBook?
As a millenial on the cusp of Gen Z, I really think that Facebook has lost its appeal to my generation (and younger ones) for good. I think a lot of kids, particularly those in high school and college, use social media either as an escape, a way to watch funny memes or keep up with the luxurious lives of celebrities, or as a way to stay in touch with friends. Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Snapchat all fulfill these. If you want to network and stay on top of what is going on in your field, you use LinkedIn. So what is Facebook good for then? Seeing the political rants of your uncle who you secretly think is deranged? There's just no use for it anymore really.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the older generations are using it now because of the same reasons we started using it; for connection and to feel heard. We all have that grandmother who uses it to keep up with friends and family, AND post her thoughts on EVERYTHING, right? Tell me it is not just me.
ReplyDeleteJodie and Erin you are both spot on! I am not sure what FaceBook's plan is to compete with all the other platforms, aside from buying them! They do own Instagram so as a company they are relevant but the original FaceBooks has definitely taken a step back in popularity. Older folks love it but I think they love it, like you said, so they can feel heard and have hundreds or thousands of people who will agree with them on whatever topic they chose to rant about. Unless something about it drastically changes, the younger generation will never be avid FaceBook users or users at all and their number of users will continue to decline.
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