Organizing an online group discussion

satyesu · Feb 18, 2018

I'm writing a book for which I'm finding I need to talk to a decently-sized group of diverse millennials. How could I do this and what would be the best way to go about it? Could I find enough diversity in one area to adequately represent our generation in general? I suspect not, so is it feasible to do it in real-time online? Should I use something like Facebook or Reddit? How might I go about "recruiting" people from different cities/states? This might go better in the nonfiction forum. If so, would a mod please move it?

The Urban Spaceman · Feb 18, 2018

satyesu said:
I'm writing a book for which I'm finding I need to talk to a decently-sized group of diverse millennials. How could I do this and what would be the best way to go about it?

Advertisement at your local library requesting a meet up/focus group?

I suspect not, so is it feasible to do it in real-time online? Should I use something like Facebook or Reddit?

You might struggle with RT depending on how many time-zones you want to cover. 5pm in EST is much later in Europe, and early morning in Australia. If you know people of the generation group you require, could you maybe set up a forum on QuickTopic or something? And ask people to bring others they know?

Harlequin · Feb 18, 2018

'Millenial' isn't a useful word on it's own. What do you mean by it specifically?

I'm technically a millenial, but so are some kids who are still in highschool. My current life goals, interests, prospects, and upbringing will have very little in common with the average 17 year old (assuming this country). There is a massive cultural and age based gap even within one supposed generation, and that's without factoring in class or ethnicity.

satyesu · Feb 18, 2018

Harlequin said:
'Millenial' isn't a useful word on it's own. What do you mean by it specifically?

I'm technically a millenial, but so are some kids who are still in highschool. My current life goals, interests, prospects, and upbringing will have very little in common with the average 17 year old (assuming this country). There is a massive cultural and age based gap even within one supposed generation, and that's without factoring in class or ethnicity.

Good point. I'd say someone who reached adulthood around 2000. I turned 18 in '08, and I consider myself a millennial.

And the library idea is good! Thanks, TUS!

Harlequin · Feb 18, 2018

Haha, yes, that's definitely worth specifying ;-)

Case in point... I'm a millennial, but I didn't graduate high school until 2005.

Good luck with it.

indianroads · Feb 18, 2018

You guys are making me feel old - graduated HS in 72.

periodic table of elements had only 4 entries back then... earth, air, fire, water.

CuddlyClementine · Feb 18, 2018

I would recommend looking into Discord. It's like an IM service but you can also have voice chat on there. It's a great way to talk to people and the beauty of it is that people can look back through messages and weigh in themselves when they are online. You can't find your audience on there, but you can direct people to the server and hold the discussion there if that helps.

folclor · Feb 18, 2018

Yep, lots use Discord, very easy to use. I'm also classified as a millennial. Graduated high school/reached 18 in '08!

cornflake · Feb 18, 2018

I'm not sure what your goal ultimately is -- none of the options being discussed will give you a representative sample of a generation, or anything close though.

If you just want to talk with some people, that's fine and these are certainly among the ways to do it. If you want some kind of sample that'd be representative, it's not.

Organizing an online group discussion

satyesu

The Urban Spaceman

Existential quandary

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

satyesu

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.

CuddlyClementine

.

folclor

Left-Handed Writing Fairy

cornflake

practical experience, FTW