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What is the reasoning behind this type of behavior? Is it that she is very susceptible to the techniques used in banner ads (animated dancing mortgage people, "

What is the reasoning behind this type of behavior? Is it that she is very susceptible to the techniques used in banner ads (animated dancing mortgage people, "one weird trick", etc.)? Or does she have some OCD behavior of clicking all the links on a page? In the OP's case, I can see the motive of the Like-collecting mindset, but with the compulsive clickers, I'm imagining someone who clicks on ads for no reason other than a compulsion to "complete the page".

jiggy2011 14y ago
Could simply be that they are less familiar with the internet, people who have been using it for a while learn to filter out the banner ads to a certain extent. If you are less familiar with using search engines etc, clicking big obvious links on pages might seem like the easiest way to "surf". I imagine if you looked at one of these people's PCs you'd find at least 6 toolbars installed in their browser.
curveship 14y ago
My wife grew up in Oklahoma, and there are several women in her extended family who fit the profile. I've been watching how her family interacts with technology for over a decade now. The behavior cited in the article makes a lot of sense to me. First, a warning: it would be a big mistake to think these women are technologically backwards. They _love_ computers and the internet. They were installing wifi routers years before my own East Coast elite-educated family. My wife's sister has 5 iphones for 4 family members, half of them are jailbroken. Part of what they love about the net is that it makes them feel _modern_ and _included_. They're no fools. They see the money, the power, the TV all emerging from NYC and LA. They know that the most their town has produced is a country singer with a chip on his should (Toby Keith). Going online, by contrast, feels cosmopolitan, sophisticated, like they're "in it," in the modern world. (There's a similar phenomenon with chain restaurants: Oklahomans _love_ chain restaurants, because it's the same meal you could get anywhere.) So having heard all the buzz about the net, they go online and ... well, here the paths diverge. The younger and/or savvier become sort of power-consumers. Like my sister in law with the jailbroken iPhones. She can quote you all the specs and all the industry-celebrity gossip, and there are at least a dozen USB devices hanging off her computer. But the older and/or less savvy, they equate the net with buzz, so when they go online, they go to its buzziest parts: banner ads, scams, get-rich-quick schemes, "empowerment" classes, etc. They click the banner ads because they think that's what you're "supposed to do" on the net, and doing so makes them feel a part of the modern world. They're not stuck in a fly-over state, they're right in front of the busy modern world, right there on their computer screen.

jiggy2011 14y ago

Could simply be that they are less familiar with the internet, people who have been using it for a while learn to filter out the banner ads to a certain extent. If you are less familiar with using search engines etc, clicking big obvious links on pages might seem like the easiest way to "surf". I imagine if you looked at one of these people's PCs you'd find at least 6 toolbars installed in their browser.

curveship 14y ago

My wife grew up in Oklahoma, and there are several women in her extended family who fit the profile. I've been watching how her family interacts with technology for over a decade now. The behavior cited in the article makes a lot of sense to me. First, a warning: it would be a big mistake to think these women are technologically backwards. They _love_ computers and the internet. They were installing wifi routers years before my own East Coast elite-educated family. My wife's sister has 5 iphones for 4 family members, half of them are jailbroken. Part of what they love about the net is that it makes them feel _modern_ and _included_. They're no fools. They see the money, the power, the TV all emerging from NYC and LA. They know that the most their town has produced is a country singer with a chip on his should (Toby Keith). Going online, by contrast, feels cosmopolitan, sophisticated, like they're "in it," in the modern world. (There's a similar phenomenon with chain restaurants: Oklahomans _love_ chain restaurants, because it's the same meal you could get anywhere.) So having heard all the buzz about the net, they go online and ... well, here the paths diverge. The younger and/or savvier become sort of power-consumers. Like my sister in law with the jailbroken iPhones. She can quote you all the specs and all the industry-celebrity gossip, and there are at least a dozen USB devices hanging off her computer. But the older and/or less savvy, they equate the net with buzz, so when they go online, they go to its buzziest parts: banner ads, scams, get-rich-quick schemes, "empowerment" classes, etc. They click the banner ads because they think that's what you're "supposed to do" on the net, and doing so makes them feel a part of the modern world. They're not stuck in a fly-over state, they're right in front of the busy modern world, right there on their computer screen.