Many of us spent time with family this weekend. I’m sure that many of us had the odd experience of wanting to repeat something that one of our friends said…and then having to figure out how to explain twitter or blogging or the internet.
1. It’s like a party line phone, where you could listen into to calls that came to other people.
2. You know how you like to shout at the television? With 2.0, @newmediajim can hear you.
3. Remember the friends you had over every Sunday evening after church for coffee? I just can’t see them…and they fix their own coffee.
4. Remember how you used to walk down the street and say hi to people along the street? That’s what i do when I turn on my computer.
5. When I was 8, Grandma Larson gave me a journal. I wrote in it once. Now I can write every day.
6. When you were in college, you got to know some people. For the next forty years, you did a round-robin letter. You wrote a letter, sent it to the next person, who added hers and forward it to the next person., who did the same. When it made it around all 6 people, you took your letter out and wrote a new one. We do that every day or week or hour.
7. Sometimes you get tired of the TV channels you have (“There’s nothing good on tonight.”) I help make my own content to watch.
8. Oh, it’s just someone I met at work.
—————-
Others in the 8 ways series:
To pointless prayer
To ruin your day
To be thanked
To increase your stress
To lose your faith
To make yourself angry
To make yourself jealous
To make yourself depressed
To ruin your marriage
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If you can break down the seemingly abstract concepts of web 2.0 to concrete terms, you have done a great thing. I need more of these lists to explain what I am doing.
Comment by James Guske — November 25, 2007 @ 10:01 am
[...] I spotted a tweet from Chris Brogan this morning, linking to a list of 8 ways to explain web 2.0 to friends and parents- See it here [...]
Pingback by 2.0 Explained in 8 ways | TechBurgh — November 25, 2007 @ 10:19 am
[...] that if you are over 25 years old, you cannot understand things like Twitter. Jon Swanson suggests 8 ways to explain 2.0 friends to 0.0 parents. My favorites are: 2. You know how you like to shout at the television? With 2.0, @newmediajim can [...]
Pingback by Reality Me » What are you doing with your phones?! — November 25, 2007 @ 11:59 am
Good
Comment by Niyaz PK — November 26, 2007 @ 1:39 am
[...] Bridging the Generation Gap – Next time you’re stuck for an explanation, try Jon Swanson’s 8 ways to explain 2.0 friends to 0.0 parents. The power of analogy may dispel a bit of confusion around the next holiday dinner gathering with non-internet relatives. [...]
Pingback by Web Worker Daily » Archive WWD Coffee Break - GCal, Humor & Twitter « — November 26, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
[...] Bridging the Generation Gap – Next time you’re stuck for an explanation, try Jon Swanson’s 8 ways to explain 2.0 friends to 0.0 parents. The power of analogy may dispel a bit of confusion around the next holiday dinner gathering with non-internet relatives. [...]
Pingback by » WWD Coffee Break - GCal, Humor & Twitter - Your Gadget Pro — November 26, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
I am so glad you finished this! I saw the first three, and I have been quoting them all over! Wonderful!
Comment by Becky McCray — November 26, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
wonderful list, and I am reading some of your other stuff. into my faves you go!
Comment by Jeanne Cole — November 26, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
[...] Bridging the Generation Gap – Next time you’re stuck for an explanation, try Jon Swanson’s 8 ways to explain 2.0 friends to 0.0 parents. The power of analogy may dispel a bit of confusion around the next holiday dinner gathering with non-internet relatives. [...]
Pingback by WWD Coffee Break - GCal, Humor & Twitter | WORK — November 27, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Forwarding to my parents!
Comment by Michelle / chelpixie — December 26, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
thanks, Michelle!
Comment by Jon Swanson — December 26, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
[...] – 8 ways to explain 2.0 friends to 0.0 parents. This post got the most hits ever. Apparently at least 42 people struggle with this challenge of [...]
Pingback by What I Learned From 2007 - Jon Swanson | Middle Zone Musings — January 13, 2008 @ 9:01 am
Great post. Sure I will use this in the future.
Comment by Sarah Stewart — January 13, 2008 @ 1:35 pm
[...] 3. Then he turns it all around to tell you how to keep your tank full, to be thanked and how to explain web 2.0 to your 0.0 parents. [...]
Pingback by 8 Ways @jnswanson Influences Me | — July 10, 2008 @ 8:11 am
[...] is a reprint from November 24, 2007. I’m including it now to give more time to get ready for these conversations than you had [...]
Pingback by 8 ways to explain 2.0 friend to 0.0 family « Levite Chronicles — November 14, 2008 @ 1:01 am
[...] now and I have all but given up trying to explain what I do. There was a really good blog post, 8 ways to explain 2.0 friends to 0.0 parents, but that is not all. I have been participating in social media since I opened my first AOL [...]
Pingback by So what is this Social Networking? « Things Are Looking Up… — September 4, 2009 @ 12:58 pm