How to Explain Social Networks to Non-Users

There are many posts these days promising to explain things like tech tools and trends, including stuff like “How would you explain this to your mom” and “Mom, this is how Twitter works.” The so called “mom” in these posts are actually the people that are handicapped in the social media department, but the truth is women (moms included), use every social media channel except LinkIn more than men!

You may not believe this but your mom might not need you to explain social media to her, since 18% of woman use Twitter, that 1% more than men. I also think that moms use social media networks a lot better than teenager or young adults.

Anyone, no matter what age or gender, can be a talented social media user and anyone could need a little help sometimes. Here are the simple, respectful ways to explain social media to newbies without making them feel silly:

First of all, what confused you? The first time you use Facebook, Twitter or any other social media network, it can be extremely confusing, whether you accidentally posted a personal message as your status or simply can’t figure out how to untag that embarrassing photo of yourself. We were all new users once!

When you’re explaining social media to a new user always try and remember what specifically confused you in the beginning, if you never had any problems posting photos to Facebook, then rather focus on explaining the things that are unclear.

Try to steer clear of the little, unimportant things like on Facebook for example. Facebook is not only a place to share statuses, pictures and write on your friends wall, it’s also used to donate to charities, play games, join groups, plan events and so much more.

So when you’re explaining social media to a new user avoid the little things, it’ll only add more confusion! Just stick to teaching them the basics and they will learn the rest along the way.

Don’t make unhelpful comparisons, like saying Twitter is like texting and Pinterest is like a million scrapbooks, does this sound helpful to you? Well, it definitely won’t be useful to a new user.

Comparing stuff like Pinterest and scrapbooking together can really underestimate how complex a social media network can be, just because grandma has a scrapbook doesn’t mean she’ll know how to use Pinterest. When you’re explaining rather just avoid the comparisons, unless they are actually relevant and helpful.

Keep things short and sweet. Stick to explaining what it is, what it does and what it looks like. The longer you take to explain a social media platform to a newbie the more likely you are to lose them halfway, if you’re explaining Twitter it would look something like this:

Twitter is an online social media platform that focuses on enabling people to post about what is going on in their lives. It allows you to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". When you log onto Twitter you’ll see a feed that shows your tweets and your followers’ tweets, you can also view your personal Twitter page that contains all your tweets and replies to other tweets.

In the end the best way to learn more about social media networks is to use them and the best way to teach a newbie is to sit down with them when they sign up for the first time and let them ask you questions along the way.

Learn more about a variety of IT services at The Computer Guyz, whether it be general IT support and maintenance or website design and hosting, contact us at our offices in Cape Town or Centurion.

Written By: Christine Romans
CopyWriter at The Computer Guyz Cape Town