The following are a selection of personas written in order to deliver an understanding of the potential needs and uses of MoreThan Talk.
Daniela
18/female/student/Barcelona
Personal Background: Gloria has just completed high school in Barcelona. She has been offered and accepted a place at the University of Southampton. She has been learning English since she was five years old and considers herself proficient. However, she speaks with a strong Spanish accent.
Technical Proficiency Profile: She currently uses Tuenti (a Spanish social network) and Facebook. She prefers the former and has more friends on Tuenti. She is technically competent.
Social opportunity: She has visited London and Edinburgh as a tourist. She found the Scots English very difficult to understand. She recognises that living somewhere is very different to being a tourist. She has never been to Southampton. She wants to talk to some locals to help her find accommodation. She wants to know how to bank. She is keen to get involved in sports. She is concerned about her personal safety both online and in the real world.
Ahmad
19/male/student/Behbahan (on the Gulf Coast)
Personal Background: Ahmad is due to study Ship Building at Southampton Solent University. He comes from a family of boat builders. He has been working for a company that is seeking to grow the luxury yacht market along the Gulf. He has learned English at school and on-line from an American language website.
Technical Proficiency Profile: As the Internet is heavily censored in Iran, Ahmad main use of social media is via Facenama. He has not used Facebook and has only seen Twitter from time totime.That said, he is technically competent.
Social opportunity: He will be living in Southampton and has three key interests. As a devout Muslim he wants to link up with a suitable mosque and their Iman. He is keen on finding work in boat building and selling industries. He is mad keen on English football – particularly Manchester United. He is naïve about coming to live in Southampton.
George
22/male/student/ Belfast
Personal Background: George completed his undergraduate degree at Queens University Belfast. He has now been offered a place at the university of Southampton studying audiology. He visited Southampton on an open day and for the interview.
Technical Proficiency Profile: Fully proficient and active on many social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and LinkedIn.
Social opportunity: he is desperate to meet up with other folk from Northern Ireland. He wants to network with other post-grads and possibly find some accommodation with a group – he is not keen on living with undergrads.
Conrad
19/male/student/Berlin
Personal Background: Conrad has spent a gap year working in Berlin as a guide for German speaking visitors. He has been accepted on a University of Southampton undergraduate course. His English is OK. He understands more than he speaks.
Technical Proficiency Profile: Fully proficient and active on many social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
Social opportunity: He want to do two things. He wants to understand what it is like as a study living in Southampton. He will be living in halls, but he stills wants to understand about how he should live and make the most of the local area. He knows that he needs to improve his spoken langue before he starts. He would appreciate the opportunity for some face-to-face conversations before he arrives in the autumn. He is prepared to help people with the German in exchange.
Ebba
28/female/post-grad student/Stockholm
Personal Background: Emma is a biologist specialising in the flora and fauna of forests. She has been working in forestry management and is coming to Southampton to work with the Forestry Commission in the New Forest for a 9-month placement. Her English is good.
Technical Proficiency Profile: Fully proficient and active on many social media platforms.
Social opportunity: Ebba wants to get involved in the music scene in Southampton. She wants to understand the opportunities there may be for a singer to perform in pubs and clubs. Having never lived in the UK she does want some insight into the day to day living of people in Southampton. How do you ‘use’ a pub, ‘restaurant’, and ‘music venue’. She is mad keen on retail and wants some advice about where to shop for the best clothes in the city.
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/onlinedegree7/4674131610