Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Link to class blog

I'm teaching Language, Technology, and Culture again this term. Some of the students have posted terrific things on the blog, so I thought I'd provide a link to it.

http://blog.cmc.oregonstate.edu/mtblogs/lisa/

Taking a big Web 2.0 step--joining Facebook

I have taken a big Web 2.0 step. At the urging (and downright pressuring) of my 9 brothers and sisters, I have finally joined Facebook. We are having our first family reunion this summer since our parents died--it will be in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, near where my sister Leni lives. Leni set up an Ede Family Reunion group on Facebook, and I am now part of it.

I've only been on Facebook a day, but it's definitely been an interesting experience. The best thing is that somehow some former students and colleagues and found and "friended" me. It's wonderful to learn what they've been up to.

Recent Pew Internet Report

The Pew Internet Research Project recently released a report on how different generations use the Internet and Web. Here's a summary of the report published by the Pew Foundation.


Contrary to the image of Generation Y as the "Net Generation," internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online.
Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online.
And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email (although teens might point out that this is proof that email is for old people).

The web continues to be populated largely by younger generations, as over half of the adult internet population is between 18 and 44 years old. But larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project surveys taken from 2006-2008.

Teens and Generation Y (internet users age 18-32) are the most likely groups to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family. These younger generations are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to seek entertainment through online videos, online games, and virtual worlds, and they are also more likely to download music to listen to later. Internet users ages 12-32 are more likely than older users to read other people's blogs and to write their own; they are also considerably more likely than older generations to use social networking sites and to create profiles on those sites.

Compared with teens and Generation Y, older generations use the internet less for socializing and entertainment and more as a tool for information searches, emailing, and buying products. In particular, older internet users are significantly more likely than younger generations to look online for health information. Health questions drive internet users age 73 and older to the internet just as frequently as they drive Generation Y users, outpacing teens by a significant margin. Researching health information is the third most popular online activity with the most senior age group, after email and online search.

For the full report please visit:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/275/report_display.asp

About the Pew Internet & American Life Project: The Pew Internet Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.
Pew Internet explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life.
Support for the project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The project's Web site: http://www.pewinternet.org rnet.org>

Please feel free to forward this email alert to colleagues, friends, or family members who might be interested in it. If you have received this message from a subscriber, you can sign up to receive your own alerts
at: http://www.pewinternet.org/signup.asp
rnet.org/signup.asp>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe, send a blank message to pewinternet-on@mail-list.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to pewinternet-off@mail-list.com To change your email address, send a message to pewinternet-change@mail-list.com
with your old address in the Subject: line To contact the list owner, send your message to
pewinternet-list-owner@mail-list.com

http://www.pewinternet.org

mail-list.com 1302 Waugh Dr. #438 Houston, Texas 77019 USA

To unsubscribe, or change your email address, click here.
http://cgi.mail-list.com/u?ln=pewinternet&nm=lisa.ede@oregonstate.edu

This message was launched into cyberspace to lisa.ede@oregonstate.edu