Mapping technology usage
Greetings everyone.
I found the four quadrants a fascinating way of mapping my use of online apps. Institutional residents include Outlook, OneDrive, Moodle, while institutional visitors include Google Scholar, JSTOR, etc. Personal residents include WhatsApp, Google News, Gmail, YouTube and personal visitors include Facebook, Instagram.
I clubbed professional and academics as institutional accessed via laptop and personal as those that I usually access on my phone. However, some apps like YouTube, Gmail and WhatsApp may fall into both institutional and personal.
Did I face challenges with mapping some technologies? I can't say, some did overlap, in case that accounts for a challenge...
Thank you for reading my post. Looking forward to interacting with you,
Smruti.
My experience is very similar, Smruti, some apps, like Google Maps, have been design for a purpose, to get from A to B, and some can be 'lived in', such as Facebook or Teams.
I still think the use of various apps very much depends on personal preference and I am not sure if it is age/generation related, although I understand there may be more similarities amongst people of similar age and experience.
Hello all,
I do agree with you that it is mostly down to personal choice.
Although I did find this useful as it has shown me I do use many of the tools on a regular basis such as search engines, google maps, google scholar and PowerPoint. I had presumed from the last activity that a visitor was more akin to my online habits, however I have now concluded I would be centre leaning towards resident on the scale.
I found this difficult, because some apps I may use for hours one week in my personal life then not touch for a couple of weeks, so I found it hard to say if visitor or resident because it depends when I complete it (especially when checking the analytics on my phone for apps used in timings!)
Work I found much easier, though all seemed to be resident really for them, because the same ones are used over and over as they work and luckily apart from search engines, they didn't much overlap due to how strict work is re what apps we can use, and my use of Microsoft alternatives at home.
Did many find apps did overlap? Maybe there are a set of apps that are more likely to be used for both - ie google - that need perhaps a separate treatment? what do you all think?
My mapping -
Personal Visitor - Google, Online banking, online booking apps (trains, Ryanair, Easy jet etc,etc)
Personal resident - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Samsung smartwatch app
Institutional visitor - Skype, google maps, word, power point
Institutional resident - Outlook, Teams
Hello,
My mapping took me all over the place, but mostly on the resident side. I have realised that over time the use of technology has overlapped, as home and work merge, used for different outcomes.
I feel pulled towards the resident side of the table for most things, because I enjoy using technology tools. It's a choice I make, to feel resident in a place that has a technological underpinning. I recognise others visit, sometimes often, and I hope I welcome them in.
I also noted that personality come into it. I looked at social media, and initially thought I am not resident there. When I dug deeper, I found that I am resident. I am just the quiet one sat in the corner watching everyone else, and taking it all in. So residency is not defined necessarily by active participation, and perhaps is a state of mind.
Mapping my technology usage has been quite interesting! My parents have been techies since the 80s so I’ve always been around and used tech for as long as I can remember. I am not surprised that I am a Resident on apps and platforms I’ve listed down on both Personal (i.e. BlueSky, Signal, Strava, Trello, OU Study Site) and Institutional (i.e. MS Teams, MS Outlook, MS Office, XML/Web Editor apps) areas than I am a Visitor (Personal: OpenLearn, YouTube, BBC News; Institutional: Adobe Creative Cloud).
David above has made a good point that being a Resident does not always mean active social engagement. For myself, I use a lot of these apps/platforms (in both Personal and Institutional sense) more as tools for documenting, planning, organising, researching, and work production.
I found this a useful way to gauge what I'm using (without even thinking about it), and how it fits with the visitor / resident model.
I found the my personal resident apps included Sounds, Spotify, What's App, Instagram, X (though I should change to BlueSky and have an account), Yahoo Mail and Google, whereas my personal visitor apps included Facebook, weather, apps related to travel, news apps, Google Maps, Eventbrite. For those social platforms which fall into my personal resident, I am a definitely someone who is in the background even though I would look at them on a daily basis. The personal visitor ones fall into the 'shed' analogy that White introduced - visit, do what I need to do and then leave.
My resident institutional apps included things like Teams, Intranet, VLE, Google, Email, Sharepoint and other office 365 apps. I didn't come up with any visitor institutional apps - I'm sure that I have some but I must use them so infrequently that it doesn't even register.
I found the mapping helped me to clearly see at a glance the different techs, tools that I specifically use for browsing, connecting and engaging, to deliberately leave my footprint.
Then there are tools such as my blogs which more often than not are used as a resident.
And there are tools I use which crossover as visitor and resident.
@ Smruti Swaroop - thank your post. It is very interesting to classify them according to the device that you use to access them - and whether it is a personal device or a work owned device.
When I contemplated the categorizing the apps, I though that some apps will always be used by visitors rather than residents, but I realize that different people will use the same app differently. For instance Google maps, I will use for directions when driving and then switch it off (visitor), but my husband will open it when we arrive our holiday destination, to explore virtually what is around us and orientate himself in the new environment (resident).
As a resident, I use social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok) to share personal updates, join local groups, engage in discussions, and participate in online events. As a visitor, I use it for checking news, browsing content, following accounts, and using for specific information.
Messaging Apps (WhatsApp, Telegram): As a resident, I use messaging apps for maintaining close relationships, organizing events, engaging in daily conversations. As a visitor, for sending quick messages, sharing information, making occasional