joolzvrn

Every Thursday night at my house is TV-with-girlfriends night. We usually make or buy some food and watch a week’s worth of mindless reality TV together. And while the DVR fast-forwards through commercials, we catch up on latest breaking news from our busy lives. And in between relationship and work updates, I’ve started asking them about their browser and add-on usage. It turns out that even though my girlfriends all use the Web every day to check mail, do work, and surf sites of interest, more than half of them still don’t know what a browser is. When I ask “what browser do you use” I have heard responses that range from “it’s Google” to “it’s a webpage.” But, when l tell them that I work for the organization that makes Firefox, it’s like a light goes on. “Ohhh, Firefox! I use Firefox to get onto the Web.” So, apparently, they all know what Firefox is, but they’re not so familiar with the term “browser.” Which makes me wonder how they even installed Firefox in the first place.

I first started using Firefox 4 years ago. It all started with a girlfriend at work who was normally very quiet, but her endorsement for Firefox was so emphatic that I had to give it a try. Up until that time, I had no idea that I even had a choice to make when it came to my Web browser. I just used whatever came with my work PC. But looking back, I think that this seemingly simple choice of browser was a significant step into learning how to make informed decisions on the Web. Hopefully, I can help my girlfriends learn that they have choices too.