Monday, 9 January 2012
Facebook Users: My mother's Use of Facebook
Facebook not only appeals to the individual as a way of communicating with friends and family. It is also the best way for businesses and companies to reach potential clients in the 21st Century. My mother is an example of someone who gets a lot of use out of Facebook on both these grounds.
Not only does my mother manage her own account but also she is responsible for looking after the Facebook page of the office she works in. She works for the Causeway Coast & Glens Heritage trust, which is an organisation who ‘promote environmental management and sustainable tourism which aims to protect and enhance the unique heritage of the Causeway Coast and Glens area.’
On her own page, my mother likes to upload photos of family events as well as photos of the dogs on days out to the beach for example. She also keeps in touch with family members living in America through leaving comments on their wall as well as through the chat feature.
Unlike myself she prefers to work mostly on the computer to manage her Facebook even though she has the Facebook app on her Blackberry. The reason for this is that she feels she can do more with the computer and can see more whereas the mobile phone app is restricted in what it shows because of the limited screen size.
On the Trusts Facebook, named Finn McCool after the Causeway Giant, my mother mainly shares links about news stories for example that are related to the concerns of the Trust. For example there is a post on the wall dated the 21st October of this year which is a link to the Belfast City Council website relating to littering which is of course a concern in all councils and something all councils are trying to cut down on. Another typical use of the Trusts Facebook account is to promote upcoming events in the area such as a treasure hunt, which was held in the area for children at Halloween. They also upload photos and add information about the Trust and its aims but the main feature of the Trusts Facebook account is the notes section found on the left hand side below the profile picture. My mother treats this section like a blog and writes extensive accounts about the goings-on within the Trust. I think this is a good idea because this way she doesn’t write it all out in such a way that it appears as a long comment on friends news feeds yet it is there for those interested to go and read it. To make people aware of a new “note” she would post a link on the main Facebook page.
MOTIVATION:
- Enjoyment
- Work
- Chat with family/friends
- Promote
- Write blog
- Upload photos
INTERACTION
- Access Internet
- Log into Facebook
- Type message/ blog entry
- Read friends statuses
- Run photo upload process
- Copy link URL and paste in status
INTERFACE
- Computer
- Keyboard
- Text field
- Photo upload menus
- Buttons (comment, like, etc)
VISUAL
- Blue colour
- Logo
- Layout
- Font size
- Comments
- Photos
Facebook Users: My Use of Facebook
In February 2004 a social networking site was born that would define how we live our lives on a daily basis. Anyone with an account can log on and catch up with friends and family whenever they like and everyone with an account is sure to log on everyday. Everyone but me that is!
I was quite late to jump on the Facebook bandwagon and only created an account in November 2010 after watching the movie, The Social Network, and thinking to myself that I must be missing something. At the beginning I uploaded photos to my profile, filled in some information about myself and added friends. Since then, however, I would say I have logged on using a computer somewhere between three to five times, which is the number of times some users log on daily.
The main use of Facebook is for users to keep in contact with friends and family by either writing a comment on their wall or by using the chat feature to instant message them. Users also write things on their own wall for example if they want to ask several of their friends something then they can comment on the wall post. This is a good thing to do I must admit because its free and in the current financial climate it makes sense and it’s a good way to save phone bill costs, but personally I would prefer to contact the person directly without the rest of the world being able to see what we are conversing.
Most people nowadays have a smart phone, which make it very easy to get on Facebook with an app available on all platforms. I, myself, have a Facebook app on my Blackberry and if it wasn’t for my phone I would never log on. I open the Facebook app on my phone once r twice a week when I’m bored for example waiting at a bus stop and looking for a way to pass time. During this time I would read down through the news feed but would very rarely comment on a status or write a status of my own. Unlike most people who would write at this time, “Waiting on the bus!”. I don’t feel the need to document every aspect of my day-to-day life. Perhaps this is because I know that no one would be interested because statuses like this don’t make for interesting reading.
I’ve been made aware that the layout of the news feed has changed when you log onto the computer and for the previously mentioned reason I think the new layout is a good thing because it puts irrelevant and dull statuses like this to the bottom of the news feed.
The news feed format has not changed on the mobile phone app, which I think is disappointing. However after the latest software upgrade the general format changed whereby the user could click a drop down menu button and select whether they want to view the news feed, their profile, notifications, messages, friends, photos or chat. The chat feature is new to the app and before had to be downloaded as a separate app. As a result of this upgrade I feel the app has become more user friendly and it’s a lot easier to navigate between the news feed and the profile for example.
To conclude I would say that Facebook is a very good idea for businesses and companies who want to make potential clients aware of upcoming events and promotions as well as for people wanting to keep in contact with family and friends who have moved abroad for example. However I don’t feel that it would make any difference to my life had it not existed, I still prefer to contact friends via mobile phone and tell those interested “what’s on my mind” directly.
The mobile phone app is a very good idea especially for users like myself because it is convenient. Personally I would never go out of my way to get on Facebook but because my phones in my pocket when situations come up when I have noting to do I log on and see what my friends are up to. If I didn’t have the app I would not go on the Internet on a computer with the sole intention of going on Facebook.
MOTIVATION
MOTIVATION
- Boredom
- See what friends are up to
INTERACTION
- Lift phone
- Enter applications
- Enter Facebook
- Scroll
- Read
INTERFACE
- Mobile phone
- Drop down menu
- Like/comment button
- Scroll down button on device
VISUAL
- Blue colour
- Logo
- Layout
- Font size
- Comments
- Photos
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