Attitudes and Perception of Baby
Boomers about New or Emerging Technology
By Amando Respicio Boncales, B.A.,
M.S.Ed., M.A., (PhD).
Fall
2013
I- Introduction
This research aimed to focus on
the Baby Boomers’ transitioning experience to new or emerging technology. How
does a baby Boomer react to new or emerging technology, such as social media?
The changes brought about by new technology can trigger many responses, whether
they are in the form of acceptance or resistance. I aimed to do research about
Baby Boomers comfort level regarding these new or emerging technologies.
Usually, people are not
comfortable with change, especially regarding new technologies that are
unproven and have not been tested by time. This uncertainty leads to anxiety
and other forms of emotional discomfort. “It is important to understand how
people are feeling as change proceeds, so that you can guide them through it
and so that—in the end—they can accept it and support it” (Bridges, 1991; Mind
Tools, 1996-2013, para. 1).
For example, Diane Malmgren knows
how to use her e-book reader, but she prefers reading in a traditional book
format because she wants to hold the book, feel the texture as she turns the
pages, and even smell the pages as she goes. I asked her, “Why not read the
copy of the book in your e-reader?” She replied, “I do not have trust and faith
in my e-reader—I don’t consider it real” (D. Malmgren, personal communication,
September 15, 2012). This mundane experience is true to any users trying to
adapt to new technology.
People enter the stage of
transition when presented with change or something new. This encounter is often
“marked with resistance and emotional upheaval, because people are being forced
to let go of something that they are comfortable with” (Mind Tools, 1996-2013,
para. 2).
II- The Researcher
My prior connection to the topic I
chose is that I have always been puzzled by why my mother would prefer calling
me instead of texting me. It seems to me that texting is new technology to her,
which makes it difficult for her to use it. I can see her frowning at the
device, and sometimes hear her voice in the phone struggling about me demanding
text messages instead of having a “regular phone conversation,” as she put it.
Texting is not working for her; she feels like she is not connecting at all
with it, and worst of all, it doesn’t feel real to my mother when she uses it.
While I always told her that texting is good because it will establish a paper
trail and previous conversations are noted, she finds it useless and ineffective.
My goal in performing this
research is to understand the ways in which my mother, a baby boomer, has difficulty
using texting as a form of communication. In addition to finding texting
difficult to deal with, she also has trouble with any new or emerging
technology. These can be of any electronic format; it can be social media, Twitter
or even Facebook. I tried creating her Facebook account and she never used it.
I want to find ways to understand
my mother better in terms of her attitude and perceptions with new technology
so that I can make this transition easier for her. Perhaps by studying how the
population of her age perceives new technology, I can guide her or give her
tips on how to utilize new technology wisely and use these new emerging
technologies to her advantage. These are my perceived goals that I think will
be useful to me and that strongly influenced my decision to pick this topic.
I am excited about this research
because I will be interacting with people who are the same age as my mother and
will be asking questions about their feelings and perceptions regarding new
technology. I am sure some of the respondents/informants have similar
experiences to that of my mother. I think that by doing this research I will be
doing a service to my mother’s age group because I will understand their issues,
which will hopefully lead to creating recommendations on how to deal with new
or emerging technology. By studying this group, I can help them understand the
inner upheaval they are experiencing and how to deal with it.
I have a lot of assumptions about
my chosen topic. I think that age group and the fast pace of new technology, which
is introduced to the public almost every week, are what causes stress to new
users, and most specially to people of this age group, baby boomers.
Aside from these two factors that
I assumed to be vital variables in my study—age group and fast-paced technology—I
am sure that there are other causes that will be found with this research. From
the accounts and narratives from my respondents/informants, I will determine
the recurring themes.
Another factor that I need to
control is my own perception towards my mother’s age group; I think they are
technologically “allergic” and prone to dismissing new technology that comes
their way. I have experienced this myself, first with my mother, and second with
people who are my mother’s age, who are dismissive of new technology.
But as I observed, this does not
hold particularly true to people in the corporate or academic community. One
probable explanation for this is that they have no choice but to deal with it
because it is a requirement in their workplace. Again, these are my assumptions
that I need to bracket or control so I can let my respondents explain their own
story about this issue.
The only potential disadvantage
that I will encounter in this study is time constraint; I will not have enough
time to know everything about this issue. Other than that, I am good to go. I
will be using grounded theory on this study and will be conducting interviews.
I will also observe the respondents.
I hope that this memo will make me
aware of the things around me as I conduct this research and help me to become
a good qualitative researcher.
III- Respondents and Setting
The informants/participants of my
research study are baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964, which is the same
age group that my parents are in. Because I treated them with respect, as they
are of my parents’ age range, it’s possible that a hierarchy has already been established
in my relationship with my respondents.
I first met my
informants/participants about six years ago, when I attended an international
gathering held by the Network of Nations at the university. Most of them are part
of the local community. The Network of Nations is community-based organizations
for international students that help foreign students adjust to American
culture. They also link internationals with one another and with Americans from
churches in the local community. They are committed to extending hospitality,
friendship, and practical assistance to internationals in the community (Network
of Nations, 2013).
Some students feel comfortable
going every Friday afternoon to the gathering that takes place at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church
I am a Protestant from the Philippines
I
like the idea of conducting research in this setting and with this population
group. This research process encouraged me to go every Friday afternoon, after
a long week of school, to this gathering. It is easier for me to ask permission
from my possible informants/participants because I already established a rapport
and even friendship with them. The element of trust between my participants and
me has been established for seven years. I do not have to start from scratch in
gaining their trust. I think this is very important in conducting the interviews.
My relationship with my
informants/participants will greatly help facilitate the research process. It
will be easier for me to conduct my interview with them and I will have enough
time to do the probing, if necessary. The only drawback, according to the
textbook, to being close to my respondents is that I have to remain
professional with them (however, I do not personally consider this to be a
downside). The best thing I can do is to think independently about the results without
considering other factors that could influence my data interpretation (i.e. my
relationships with the respondents).
Because my participants are close
to me, and I have known them for seven years, I do not plan to create a
different persona when conducting my interview. I will just be the Amando
Boncales they have known from the very beginning, when they met me in 2006.
What I mean is that I will not make them feel as if I am a different person
while I am gathering the data, nor will I tell them that I have to distance
myself in order to gather my data effectively.
However, in data analysis, I will
try my best to think critically in analyzing the data gathered, and I will remove
my preconceived ideas about baby boomers. I will just let the data show me the
emerging themes that will manifest when I interpret the data.
I would assume that the
respondents will see me as an international student. However, because I have
been around for a while now, they might consider me as “not that foreign
anymore.” Over the last three years, I have found that people from this
organization consider me as part of the community, though they still regard me
as a graduate student from the university.
I do not think that my
respondents’ status will greatly influence this research process. I believed
that they accommodate me because they like to, not because they need to. I do
not have any leveraging power to impose over them or vice versa. The idea of
status and power difference between me and the respondents is out of the
equation. I think that this is not a factor that will significantly affect the
outcome of my research.
In my interview, I made it clear
that I am not there to study them, but to learn from them. I did not assume any
expertise about the topic, but told them instead that I am there to listen and
learn from their own experiences and perceptions about social media.
It is also understood that the
data gathered will be used for my research as part of my doctoral program. The
respondents were actually very helpful and accommodating after I told them
about my needs and the objectives of my research.
As I continue my data gathering, I
will encounter a lot of interesting perceptions and attitudes that the baby
boomers have. I am excited to go through the process of researching this
population group. By doing so, I will eventually understand the sentiments and
frustrations my parents shared with their own age group about new technology.
IV- Research Design
V- Methodology
I will examine what other researchers have done and said regarding
this topic of generational views on social media. One purpose of this
literature review is to determine what theories might be used to explore the
questions in a scholarly manner.
There are several theories concerning new or emerging technology,
and few of them have been examined thoroughly. As the researcher, I believed
that this study will be best framed by Roger’s “Diffusion of Innovation,”
Schlossberg’s “Theory of Transition,” and Bridges' “Transition Model.” I have
chosen to use these theories because they explain how technology is spread,
adopted or reacted to by users. I hope to use these models as the framework to
guide my data collection and analysis.
VI- Theoretical
Framework
Diffusion of
Innovation
Before addressing other topics, I will first detail the models
used in relation to this research. I consulted Roger’s “Diffusion of
Innovation,” which has become the hallmark reference on diffusion studies, in
order to determine how new or emerging technology spreads. The definition of
diffusion is the manner in which a technological advance is spread via certain
channels from one member of society to another over a period of time (Roger,
1995, p 5). Fascinatingly, diffusion theory shows that the majority of members
within a society segment depend greatly upon the decisions made by other
members within that same segment of society regarding the innovation. Roger
assesses the aspects of embracing a new technology, attempting to shed some
light on how those who accepted such innovation influence those who later use
it. In this model, decisions are individualized, with no collective mind or
authoritative influence; those within the social group must decide whether or
not to adapt such technology by following this five-step process: 1) knowledge,
2) persuasion, 3) decision, 4) implementation, and 5) confirmation (Roger,
1995, p 162).
Theory of Transition
Schlossberg’s “Theory of Transition” is what I consulted in order
to broaden my knowledge of transition. Schlossberg (1984) defined a transition
as “any event that results in a change in relationships, routines, assumptions
or roles with the setting of self, work, family, health and/or economics”(p.
43). Transitions may be one of three types: non-events, unanticipated events,
or anticipated events. Non-event transitions are those which one believes will
occur that do not actually arise, such as missing out on a new job, being
turned down when proposing marriage, or not being called for jury duty.
Unanticipated transitions are life events that unexpectedly change the usual
routine in one’s life; these are generally crises, such as a plane crash, a
loved one’s untimely death, or being laid off from work without warning.
Anticipated transitions are those major milestones in life that are expected
and even looked forward to, such as delving into a new career, graduating from
college or high school, or getting married.
This model of transition is based on the meaning that is
determined by the personal perspective on the event. It is all about how
individuals react to new situations, such as new rules being implemented at a
college, and what they do to adjust to this change (which is dependent upon
their previous coping strategies). The type, context, and effect of a
transition must be noted in order to fully understand the meaning of a
transition. According to Goodman, et al.(2006), Schlossberg (1984), and
Schlossberg, et al. (1995) there are four major factors (known as the 4S
System) that influence how an individual copes with a transition: situation,
self, support, and coping strategies. This system provides a basis to use in
identifying the coping resources that individuals have.
Transition Model
Bridges’ “Transition Model” is a good foundation for discerning
the attitude and perceptions towards social media that baby boomers have. The
difference between “transition” and “change” is distinguished by Bridges, who
considers the latter an outwardly-motivated process and the former an
inwardly-driven reaction to change that includes the three stages: endings, the
neutral zone, and renewal/new beginnings.
The psychological transformation people encounter when accepting a
new situation is a transition. “Change is external, transition is internal”
(Bridges, 1991).
Many people avoid change due to their discomfort with unfamiliar
things. By understanding the emotions people experience during a change, you
can give them guidance so they will accept and support the change. As a change
consultant, Bridges’ created the “Transition Model” for this purpose; though
the difference may seem slight, focusing on transition rather than change is important.
Change is merely an outwardly focused occurrence, or something that happens to someone; transition, in contrast, is
inwardly focused, occurs more slowly, and is generally more meaningful.
The “Transition Model” lists three transitional stages that people
go through when experiencing change: 1) ending, losing, and letting go; 2) the
neutral zone, and 3) the new beginning. People will go from one stage to the
next at their own pace, says Bridges; some who are hesitant may linger at stage
one, while those who like change may quickly progress to the final stage.
VII- Interview Analysis
In this research, I interviewed
two male Caucasians in their late 50’s. I used pseudonyms to protect their
privacy. The first participant respondent, “Bart,” lived in Dekalb City
Social Media is New!
In this research, there were several
themes and sub-themes that emerged in my interviews. Top among the concerns of
the respondents was that social media is something new and not yet tested to
the fullest extent. Although Bart has a Facebook account, he shared the same
sentiment with Lucio that social media is a frontier that needs further
exploration. Bart said that “these social media is not the solution for
everything,” stressing that people find social media effective and revolutionary,
“but not the answer to everything.”
Insulation from the Real World
Bart finds social media and the
internet addicting. “They get too addicted” to the internet, he says, especially
Facebook. The “smart telephone” is another of his concerns. He added, “People
used their time using internet that makes them out-of-touch on what is going on
right around them.” People walk down the sidewalk and they have their earphones
and cell phone with a Facebook connection, but they are not aware on what is
going on around them within ten feet. This is his biggest concern. This may be
sound “like strange concerns” he added. Somebody says hi to them and they just
ignore it because they’re distracted by their technology. “I should say this is
such a way that they are so interested and so focused on being in touch with
the world because in a sense that they are connected in the other side of the
globe, but their being out of touch with their immediate real world,” said
Bart. Somebody could be hurt and they wouldn’t notice it.
Bart did not only view new technology as a plague, but recognizes
its uses, also. “If social media will connect them” and make some enhancement
to people’s lives, he says, then he doesn’t have any problem with it. He
pointed out that “with their phone they can call help,” but they can only offer
help if they pay attention to their surroundings. This is not just a concern
for common people but also in terms of our student population on campus. Bart repeatedly
said, “People get addicted to technology.” He thought this word can be so
strong. He believes that technology is not the answer to all things, but for
some people, it is the answer to everything.
This strongly suggests that although technology has increased our
ability to connect with other people, information overload is a common result
of the amount of new technology used, which diminishes our awareness of others
in everyday life. Instead of striking up a conversation with someone while
walking down the street, our attention is readily fixed on Facebook status
updates, tweets, and other technology-driven pieces of information. Our new
technology has reduced true social connection with our fellow human beings.
Overdose and Stimulation
Like Bart, Lucio sees the value of
social media but believes it is “overdone.” “It’s done too much; it’s excessive,”
he says. Lucio observed that messaging in social media is superficial and not
interesting to people, but that “simply texting back-and-forth [is used] for
the sake of texting and stimulation.” For him, this is not a meaningful
activity, and it has no purpose at all. It’s just stimulation used for the sake
of being distracted from life. Rather than talk about things that are more
significant and deal with another person on a deeper level than just saying
“cool” or “LOL,” for him, this kind of communication is not fulfilling at all.
It is not meant for deep conversation.
Lucio argues that people who
engage in social media continuously are overstimulated and not able to think
deeply; they have taught themselves not to reflect upon things, and they have
to have constant stimulation and constant activity. They don't allow themselves
time to be quiet and reflect on their circumstances in life. These people,
Lucio observed, are so used to stimulation that they become dependent on it in
order to be happy. He finds that people like are shallow, and that “they don't
take time to keep quiet and to have deeper thoughts.”
Not Reliable
Bart’s daughter lived in the
mountains of Colorado
Manipulating the Poor
Bart thinks that we need to be
concerned about bringing everybody to the same “level” or page. In the United States
Face-to-face is “Sine qua non”
Bart believes that it takes face-to-face
contact to be truly connected with people. “God made us to connect
face-to-face,” he stated. The people that he observed in Facebook connections
are always on Facebook. People who use Facebook have many friends, but he did
not really think that they were their true friends in the real sense because many
had not met face-to-face. “I do see some people or hear about them, but you
don't really relate one-in-one,” said Bart.
Internet connection or electronic connections have some disadvantages
because they are not completely reliable.
Lucio shares the same opinion with
Bart that there is no substitute with face-to-face interaction. Social media
tends to become a substitute for face-to-face conversation, and limits in-depth
discussion. He finds social media to be superficial. “People text back and
forth” and they are all excited about the ability to communicate instantly, he
said, but it seems that they don’t get to a more deeper and significant level.
Face-to-face communication and phone conversations are more meaningful to
Lucio. He believes that people are being bombarded with communication but that the
communication methods lack meaning and substance.
Other electronic communication can be useful
Although Bart and Lucio both have
an aversion towards social media and hypertext messaging systems, email and
telephone calls are acceptable to them. Bart, for example, prefers to talk to
someone on the phone if he has a problem that he wants to discuss. The
telephone, being an older form of communication than the internet, is preferred
by Bart. He uses email only if he cannot connect with someone via the phone. Bart
does not want to communicate to somebody via social media because they could
misunderstand it; additionally, he stated that a threat to privacy is “[one] of
the problems” with using social media.
Lucio finds that many social
media, such as Facebook and twitter, are unnecessary as a form of
communication. He only relies on email or telephone calls and face-to-face
interaction. “There are times that a regular letter could have more
significance,” Lucio added, and he sees some value in the handwritten letter.
One can argue that handwritten letters have more sentimental value to most
people. Not only can handwritten letters be stored away as keepsakes, but they
are also unique. Although emails can be printed, handwritten letters allow you
to see the individual style of handwriting the sender used, which some claim is
a reflection of the sender’s personality. Unlike email, letters do not expose
you to the danger of malware on your computer.
The age factor.
Bart acknowledges that his
perception towards social media and other forms of new technology has something
to do with his age. He believed that various age groups have differing views on
how technology should be used. These views are the result of the different
experiences they have shared, or “what is on their mind.” It is largely because
they grow up in a different social setting. Their background influences them, e.g.
culture, their desires, their parents and “other people who surround them while
they were growing up.”
Compromising good communication skills
Lucio observed that many young
people often abbreviate text and create poorly constructed sentences. “They
don't learn how to write, [and they rely on] incomplete words or sentences.”
These new technologies encourage poor writing and poor spelling. He thinks that
language development in media technology suffers from the behavior of the
users, as encouraged by new technology.
Sending text such as via instant
messaging places an emphasis on speed. This encourages and promotes
abbreviations and causes misspellings. Users—particularly young people—usually
use acronyms such as “LOL” (laugh out loud), and this kind of behavior does not
encourage good communication skills. Lucio would like to see young people think
more carefully on what they say and to write more carefully, opting to express
their “thoughts in a well-developed way.”
People are caught up with the
excitement of the instant connection with others, but this tends to be an
activity of no real substance. People’s lives are just filled with chatter and
meaningless small talk. For Lucio, there is no real significance to it. One of
the reasons why he did not participate on Facebook is that people post all sorts
of things on Facebook, and keeping up with it is overwhelming. Lucio already had
difficulty in keeping up his email and he didn’t want to have 20 Facebook
messages to look through because these are “little things I don’t need to
know.”
Lucio believed that “all communication is not equal.” Some forms
of communication are more significant than others, and he finds face-to-face communication
to be more interesting. He finds social media “full of chatter - not good.” He
likes conversations with substance. He would rather have fewer conversations
that are significant than have many conversations about trivial things.
VIII- Conclusion
In this research, I found out that
people prefer face-to-face communication over social media such as Facebook.
The two respondents struggle to connect with their friends if they were just to
use Facebook as the only means of connecting socially. This observation is backed
by a new study performed by the University
of Michigan
In the narratives, I observed that
the participant respondents experienced “techno stress,” which occurs in
individuals when newly adapted or introduced technology causes frustration and
tension because of difficulty or incompetence. This phenomenon results in
individuals avoiding technology or experiencing higher levels of anxiety when
it is used. Craig Brod (1984) describes it as a “modern disease of adaptation
caused by an inability to cope with new computer technologies in a healthy
manner.” Technology-related anxiety prevents individuals from having a positive
experience, turning it instead into an undesirable experience (Fiehn 2010).
However, if technology is adaptive and utilized correctly, it can greatly
simplify tasks for students and teachers, as well as make new opportunities
available.
People find new technology to be alienating
and believe that we end up sacrificing our old ways of communication, e.g.
face-to-face contact, to living in a virtual world. I suppose in every aspect
of human progress, there are sacrifices to be made. In the age of fast-changing
media formats and communication, the continual need to adapt can cause people
to feel lost or out of control.
IX- Bibliography
Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions: Making
the most of change. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
Brod, C. (1984). Technostress : the human cost of
the computer revolution. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
Diane Woods-Malmgren. (2012, 04). Diane interview.
Everett M. Rogers. (1983). Diffusion of
innovations. New York; London: Free Press ; Collier Macmillan.
Fiehn, B. (2010). Stressing out: Handling change in
a digital world. Community & Junior College Libraries, 16(4),
255–258.
Kross, E., Verduyn, Philippe, Demiralp, Emre, Park,
Jiyoung, Lee, David Seungjae, Lin, Natalie, Shablack, Holly, Jonides, John,
Ybarra, Oscar, Sueur, Cédric,. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in
subjective well-Bbing in young adults. PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, 8(8),
e69841.
Michaels, L. (2013). Lucio interview: Not his real
name.
Network of Nations. (2013). Home. Retrieved from
http://www.networkofnations.org/about_us.htm
Rogers, E. M. (1983). Diffusion of innovations.
New York; London: Free Press ; Collier Macmillan.
Schlossberg, N. K. (2013). Transitions through life:
How to survive according to Nancy K. Schlossberg. Transitions Through Life.
Biography. Retrieved from
http://www.transitionsthroughlife.com/bio/full-biography/
Smith, B. (2013). Bart interview: Not his real name.
William Bridges and Associates. (2013). Assessing
transition readiness. Retrieved from http://www.wmbridges.com/articles/assessment_tools.html
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