Social media tools such as Twitter, live-bloging, Facebook, Youtube, FriendFeed and other social networking applications have become big news as they rapidly transform the media in real-time. The immediate nature and rapid growth in popularity of these tools are re-enforcing brands, and assisting organisations and government to find relevant ways to interact and communicate with their consumers, service users and constituents. The rules of engagement have changed over recent years and communications officers across a wide variety of sectors are increasingly using social networking tools to disseminate news, listen to opinions and respond accordingly.

Following study of the Digital Britain [1] report (Carter, 2009), please allow me to address just one initiative outlined within (Exec. Summary, pt 23): A three-year National Plan to improve Digital Participation.

Also, within this document, I would also like to draw reference to the Reboot Britain Essays (NESTA, 2009 2), in particular “All Together Now” (Hobsbawm 4, 2009).

In a proposal to bring all sections of the UK community online, the Government has appointed a new Digital Inclusion Champion, Martha Lane Fox. and she has been quoted as saying “You can’t be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online” (BBC 3).

Addressing the audience in her first speech at Reboot Conference, London (which I attended), she announced that she would target the poorest 6 million Britons by aiming to provide broadband internet connections and bring them into the digital age.

Lane Fox explained the idea behind providing broadband internet to one quarter of the UK population, and described the step as a “welfare measure”, and added “the fact that the government is well aware of these underprivileged people and their whereabouts should make the task easier for the government”. Expanding her plan, she mentioned that if the last 25 percent of people are online, then the government’s communication costs of reaching out and engaging with this section of society would be greatly reduced, because a large majority of the government’s work involves this section of the society.

Perhaps therein lays the possible underlying flaw. The Lane Fox plan relates specifically to the wishes of government, and not the expressed wishes and evidence of need of the population.

However, there are two sections of the UK society whose views are exactly opposite and contradictory to those of Lane Fox and government:

* those that do not want to take part and
* those that do not know how to take part in the new digital age

It is these two types of demographic that I would like to focus on for the purpose of this exercise.

In his essay, Hobsbawm says “It is clear that age-old social behaviours like giving directions in the street, parents organizing school association events, or doing favours for our neighbours and friends are part of what makes us tick and our societies stick together” (Hobsbawm 5, Reboot Britain, 2009).

This opinion has also been repeated in Here Comes Everybody (Clay Shirky 6, 2008, page 14) when he says “Human beings are social creatures- not occasionally or by accident but always. Sociability is one of our core capabilities, and it shows up in almost every aspect of our lives as both cause and effect. Society is not just the product of its individual members; it is also the product of its constituent groups.”

To illustrate this, I would like to draw comparisons between two different age groups here and illustrate both ends of the scale. This may seem like a generalisation and huge sweeping statement, but in my professional experience, the difference between the absent computing skills of the older generation when compared to the integration and total emersion of the younger generation of today, could not be further removed from each other.

At the younger end of the scale (Generation Y), looking at those children born between 1985 and 2001, our UK society has witnessed these young people learn basic computing and communication skills, adapt their lifestyles and learning techniques to use technology on a daily basis with frequency and familiarisation being considered a completely normal practice. Many of these young people are now totally immersed in daily use of technology for learning, work and digital social networking. These people are the first crossover learners and users between digital migrants and digital natives.

However, the skills of the parents and teachers of Generation Y children has left a potential gap in skills transfer, causing an increased number of young people classed as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

As Howard Williamson 7 (Status Zer0 Youth and the ‘Underclass’), put it: “Twenty-five years ago, the problem of young people getting ‘lost’ in the transition from school to work was not an issue. What was at issue then was the problem of apparently unrealistic aspirations (requiring strategies for ‘cooling out’) and the ‘problem’ of recurrent job changes in the early years after leaving school.”

This method of ‘cooling out’ led to many socially excluded young people not learning the necessary skills to maintain development in computer skills required to integrate with their peers on platforms such as MSN, Myspace, Facebook, and more recently Bebo, Linkedin and Twitter. This in turn led to a lowering of social networking integration (both physical and on line), and drove the gap between students that used their technology skills to good effect, and those that had no skills whatsoever, ever wider.

This in turn created a feeling of prejudice and return to the split in social and cultural classes: the “have’s and have not’s” re-appeared after the financial boom years of the late 1990’s, and in part led to the ‘chav’ cultural split we remember so well (or try to forget).

The successful learning and positive experiences of Generation Y have shaped the familiarisation of younger siblings and peers (Generation Z), and in part, their parents also. Driven in part by the advancement of mass media news dissemination and syndication, immediacy and availability of 3G internet access via mobile telephones, sms messaging services and low cost options available. In comparison, Generation Z young people are all digital natives.

The Protection of Children in England Report 8 (Laming, 2009) states that post-9/11 children are clearly different in life outlook and attitudes to learning, and are growing up in a distinct and individualistic way, requiring improvements in protection and welfare care to ensure their best interests and safeguarding. These young children are shaped by forces like economic, political and cultural anxiety- they are far more skeptical than Generation Y, and because of (in part) regular use of available 3G mobile telephone technology, are very familiar within the post-dot com/web 2.0 technology environment. They use the Internet in a different manner than Generation Y –they do not distinguish the Internet from any other information-gathering experience, and the current survey 9 (HM Govt. Office of Nat. Stats, 2007) shows that more of the population is growing up in broadband-enabled cities than ever before.

In stark reality, running alongside this statement above, are the figures provided by the Nuffield Review 10 (2008) of NEET young people, where although figures have reduced by 11% since 1985, the percentage of NEET 18 year old people still stands at a shockingly high 14%.

According to sociologist, Basil Bernstein 11 (Class, Codes and Control, Oct. 2008): “Education cannot compensate for society”. Perhaps this seems a little extreme, but please allow me to expand.

The lower social and income-based class is associated with NEET young people.

In 2005, the UK had more families living in poverty than the rest of mainland Europe 12 (OECD), with 10.08% of children officially living on or below the poverty line. As outlined above, what is also now becoming apparent is that growing income inequality seems to be a contributing factor towards: infant mortality, lower levels of literacy and numeracy, higher rates of teenage pregnancy, higher rates of drop-out, children with low aspirations, higher levels of drug abuse and crime, more children and young people in prison, lower levels of social mobility and lower levels of life expectancy 13 (The Spirit Level, Wilkinson & Pickett).

Perhaps Bernstein’s statement above stands true, and further consideration to Maslow Hierarchy of Need 14 should be applied in greater consideration to society as a whole before the issue of digital inclusion be expected to achieve any level of success.

Hopefully the above statements help to explain why the Lane Fox plan, following the release of the Digital Britain report, and NESTA and Technology Strategy Board action plans will be so difficult to achieve a successful outcome. Certainly, when the UK’s young people representation is assessed with a critical eye, with a 14% non-attendance at educational facilities, training organisations or employment, I struggle to see how this target will be reached within such a short, three year deadline.

Let us now turn our attention to those UK citizens at the opposite end of the age scale; those elder members of society over the age of 65 years.

For this section of the document, I would like to draw comments and expand upon “How the new economics of voice will change the NHS” by Paul Hodgkin as part of the Reboot Britain series of essays.

At the time of writing, 16% of the UK population are aged over 65 15 (National Statistics)

In 1983, this % was slightly less, at 15%, but this still equated to in excess of 22million people.

Back in 1983, a man who is 65 now would have been 40 years old. He would possibly have been fit, working and earning a salary to support his family.

Now imagine that same man, sitting in an NHS hospital outpatients waiting room in 2009. He has been there for over 4 hours, and feels most dissatisfied with the lack of service, care and attention he has been subjected to. This same man quite possibly has a mobile telephone in his pocket, and the contact details of his daughter’s mobile telephone too. He sends her a simple sms text message saying “I’m still here. It’s been 4 hours. Can you bring me a drink?” His daughter is horrified by this news, and just before she leave for the hospital, she tells her husband the news, who is actively engaged on line via Twitter. The husband tweets the update to his network of followers, expressing his disgust, which is picked up by the local MP. The MP orders an enquiry at his office the following morning, and the appointment with the hospital manager is booked. This complaint affects the hospital’s rating system, which in turn affects their budget available for the next financial year. The hospital reconsiders its outpatient service delivery strategy and implementation plan. The elderly gentleman investigates into Twitter with his son-in-law, simply because he has seen it working via one simple text message sent from his mobile telephone. This is social media being used for social gain in real-time practice.

For the NHS, understanding what is effecting change in society and the obvious gaps in communication with patients seems a useful point of focus.

Research carried out in Sweden 16 (NITA, 2005) has shown that citizens aged 50 and older experienced the highest rates of growth in internet usage of all groups, increasing 53 percent between December 1998 and August 2005. The research showed that this age group was more likely (42.7 percent) than any other age group to check healthcare information online. Those 55 and older also showed equal e-mail use as any other adult age group.

To expand further upon this, similarly, the increasing importance of those over 65 as purchasers and statutory body service users should be of importance to manufacturers and distributor of products. If comparisons are drawn with Sweden, by using the figures above, we see that the market share of consumers’ potentially buying goods and services online is 8% of the UK population- this is not a figure to be ignored by any company looking to profit from sales to the elderly.

New technology will make experimental marketing much more of an end-user experience- there will be increased engagement and interactive marketing delivered on line, and this experience will transform the buyers experience. One new and excellent example of such technology, allowing virtual experiences combined with social media exchanges is 2nd Life 17. Another example in basic form is the “walk-throuh” online technology being used by The O2 and Wembley arena in London, and the LG arena at the National Exhibition Centre.

Control of distribution will be a key in the battle between retailers and suppliers. In the new age of Digital Britain (post the 2012 digital television switchover), poor service delivery attitudes and standards will be severely punished in the till. Ethical retail will bloom and grow, and initiatives such as the Co-operative model will flourish, as will e-commerce.

The key factor and success lever for this will be the building of relationships between consumers and the brand owners. The current trend in marketing circles (as witnessed by myself) is to build lifelong loyalty with the customer by using social media tools, applications, strategies and techniques.

In his recent Google lecture in Zurich, Wally Olins 18 (2008) noted that “the consumer is answering back”. Brands, services, retailers and suppliers that do not deliver are going to have an ever-increasingly tough time in the marketplace of the future. The web and social media platforms in particular are very public places where a tiny snowflake of a mistake can very soon become a vicious avalanche of rageful comments from disgruntled customers (see Gerald Ratner, 1991).

So how does this relate to the older generations of consumers and the Digital Britain report and action plan?

8% of any potential market share is a significant portion that cannot be ignored.

Without the infrastructure of the cable (or better yet, fibre) networks, coupled with the technological advances in computing and mobile technology, and training opportunities to help users learn how to use their tools, this 8% of the over 65’s will be left out in the cold, disenfranchised, disengaged, feeling unwanted and not cared for. These people have votes that count.

The writing is hopefully clear for the Digital Britain delivery team- quite simply, give people the options and sufficient network support to choose for themselves, and the engagement levels will naturally increase, led by the users that want to take part. These are the very same users you are aiming to reach.

Dear Martha Lane Fox,

When your communications officer writes your next blog post for you, please re-consider your statement: “You can’t be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online”

He/ she may just find that here is a snowflake rumbling in the distance.

Paul Hadley

September 2009

[1] Digital Britain: The Final Report – 16 June 2009- http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/6216.aspx

2 Reboot Britain- 6th July 2009 http://www.nesta.org.uk/reboot-britain/

3 BBC News Magazine- 6th August 2009- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8187305.stm

4 Hobsbawm- Reboot Britain- 6th July 2009- http://www.nesta.org.uk/assets/Uploads/pdf/Provocation/reboot-britain-essays.pdf

5 Hobsbawm- Reboot Britain- 6th July 2009- http://www.nesta.org.uk/assets/Uploads/pdf/Provocation/reboot-britain-essays.pdf

6 Clay Shirky- Professor at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Programme. ‘Here Comes Everybody’- pub. Penguin, 2008

7 Williamson, H. (reprinted 1997) Status Zer0 Youth and the ‘Underclass’. In: MacDonal, R. Youth, the‘Underclass’ and Social Exclusion. London: Routledge, p. 72

8 Protection of Children in England Report (Rt. Hon. Lord Laming, 2009)- Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID 6079455 03/09

9 Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates mid 2007, (children aged under 18 years)

10 http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STA/t000751/NEETQuarterlyBriefQ22008.pdf Dept. for Children, Schools and Families, published 26th August 2008, p16.

11 Basil Bernstein- The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse (Class, Codes and Control), 2008, Routledge

12 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development 2005 Survey: http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=CSP2009

13 Wilkinson & Pickett- The Spirit Level (Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better)

14 Maslow Hierachy of Needs- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

15 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=949

16 State-of-the-art in utilizing Living Labs approach to user-centric ICT innovation 4 (13) Mats Eriksson, CDT, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden http://www.vinnova.se/upload/dokument/Verksamhet/TITA/Stateoftheart_LivingLabs_Eriksson2005.pdf

17 http://secondlife.com/

18 The Brand Handbook- Wally Olins- University of Laguna – Thames Hudson, 2008.