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April 10, 2007
"Just fix it" age a killer for user groups?
Garry Barker's story about the decline of the computer user group presents one view of the modern user. The story quotes Lyn Goodall, the new president of Melbourne PC User Group - which [pace Garry] must still be the world's largest user group if it's second to APCUG, given that APCUG is actually the association of user groups, rather than an individual club - on a discussion she had recently with a young woman who presumably didn't join.
"As one young woman with whom I tossed this question around recently said to me: if the machine goes wrong, she pays someone to fix it or she buys a new one. She is not interested in knowing how it works. She told me she wanted information instantly, wherever she was. She wants to read her emails, save her pictures and do all that kind of stuff. It is this need for instant information and communication that is driving the young."Well, yes, but we're not sure that necessarily means that they won't join a user group.
It probably does mean they won't join for the same reasons - learning how things work and making contact with more experienced users who can help them solve problems. They probably don't want to read the club magazine.
They're likely to be much more interested in entertainment. And while it is true that these days, people have far less spare time to attend meetings, the urge to communicate is as strong as ever. It's just that these days, people meet online.
What it suggests to Bleeding Edge is that if user groups are to survive, they've got to have much better online facilities, and they must find new ways of creating and fostering online communities. If we were inventing user groups today, what would they look like? Or are we completely wrong, and the entire concept is doomed?
Posted by cw at April 10, 2007 03:15 PM
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Comments
I won't be renewing my membership to the Melbourne PCUG this year. I originally joined for the cheap dial up internet, but now with 'broadband' there is no advantage. The magazine is sort of diverting, but recently there has been a push for ultra beginners stuff -how to use email, how to download files and the like. Don't get me wrong there is a real need for this stuff, it's just that I don't need it. And young people certainly don't - they just learn by osmosis.
Posted by: Neilgue at April 13, 2007 12:04 PM