For my experiment I sent out a series of questions to different groups using Facebook email. By directing the questions to individuals I hoped that they would feel personally obliged to respond. For my first question, I sorted the recipients into groups of ten , based on the following categories:
International friends
Friends over 30.
Teenage Friends.
Australian university students that have studied abroad.
I hoped that by setting these groups apart, it would be easier to see how different demographic factors impacted upon the interpretation of the question, and the way in which the particpants would repsond. I set up the groups with people that all knew each other, hoping that this would encourage them to interact with each other and create discussion threads.
The question I asked was:
"What is the best idea anyone has ever had"
This received very few responses. As many of the groups were people that know each other personally, but do not live near each other, the threads that emerged were conversational and not directed towards answering the question.
This occured particularly in the International friends group, and the conversation seemed to deter participants from responding to the question. One member of this group did not want to disturb the flow of conversation, so responded by posting the following link on my Facebook wall:
The only case of participants responding to each others answers was in the group of Australian university students that have studied abroad. One participant posted the following video:
Another participant then posted a similar video in response to this:
Beyond this, the participants did not interact with each other in answer to the questions, and the response as a whole was underwhelming. The over 30 group did not respond at all, and the teenage group made a couple of jokes.
Interestingly, the participants that did respond tended to post videos and links, rather than providing a written response.
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