How to get your non-tech-savvy friends/relatives into Bitcoin

[btcusury]

Here's what I do:

If he/she hasn't heard about Bitcoin or its recent price spike, I send them the 1-year daily price candlestick chart. I often get back the question "how do I buy bitcoins?"

Then I suggest setting up an account at an exchange and offer to send him/her 1 BTC to play with. For many people this is incentive enough to get into Bitcoin.

(Yes, for free, why not? If you're an early adopter, think of 1 BTC being worth what you bought it for, say $20, rather than its current price. You can of course offer 0.5 or any other number that you think will incentivise your friend/relative.)

You can probably classify most of your friends/relatives as "non-tech-savvy", but you can further divide that category into "some computer understanding" and "clueless", because obviously there's a lower limit of knowledge required to use Bitcoin. The person must be able to operate a computer to some extent. So how to know if your friend/relative is tech-savvy enough? One way I use is to ask them if they know the website address for Facebook. If a person doesn't know that "facebook.com" is the website address for Facebook, I just move on to the next person. Thanks to the dumbing-down efforts of Microsoft et al, it seems like over 50% of Facebook users just type "facebook" into the browser address bar or search bar, not understanding or even knowing about the concept of a website address/URL.

[whtchocla7e]

Bitcoin is not easy to use for a normal person in its current state.

I would not feel comfortable introducing anyone to Bitcoin until the public/private keys, wallets, encryptions, etc. are simplified or better yet completely abstracted. I can image someone like my father locking themselves out of their savings pretty easily without realizing it.

[btcusury]

Yeah, that's what I mean by "lower limit of knowledge required to use Bitcoin"... But anyone who is comfortable with a computer should be able to learn how to use Bitcoin. And I'd say that any "normal person" should be comfortable with a computer, at least in the West.

The idea is that you give them 1 BTC as an incentive (omg, $900 free??) to start learning about it. If they're able to provide a bitcoin address for you to send it to, then the incentive will be enough to motivate them.

We are not talking about huge amounts here, like "savings" seems to imply, so security concerns (wallet stealing, forgetting password) shouldn't be an impediment.

Think about it from this perspective: Would you feel comfortable introducing anyone to debt-based fiat currency, given its flaws/problems? Certainly Bitcoin is a better option to introduce someone to.

[jbreher]

The idea is that you give them 1 BTC as an incentive (omg, $900 free??) to start learning about it.

That was my thought behind giving the kids, their significant others, and grandkids each a bitcoin for xmas. So far, it has sparked quite a bit of follow up.

[valerian253]

I'd suggest having them watch the Andreas video:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSdnuFOLV4nMiQG9gvPBX_VQUf6E4COM

…then, rather than getting caught up in the daily price volatility, they will come to understand the bigger picture and "get it."

[vcalv1014]

Here's what I do:

If he/she hasn't heard about Bitcoin or its recent price spike, I send them the 1-year daily price candlestick chart. I often get back the question "how do I buy bitcoins?"

Then I suggest setting up an account at an exchange and offer to send him/her 1 BTC to play with. For many people this is incentive enough to get into Bitcoin.

(Yes, for free, why not? If you're an early adopter, think of 1 BTC being worth what you bought it for, say $20, rather than its current price. You can of course offer 0.5 or any other number that you think will incentivise your friend/relative.)

You can probably classify most of your friends/relatives as "non-tech-savvy", but you can further divide that category into "some computer understanding" and "clueless", because obviously there's a lower limit of knowledge required to use Bitcoin. The person must be able to operate a computer to some extent. So how to know if your friend/relative is tech-savvy enough? One way I use is to ask them if they know the website address for Facebook. If a person doesn't know that "facebook.com" is the website address for Facebook, I just move on to the next person. Thanks to the dumbing-down efforts of Microsoft et al, it seems like over 50% of Facebook users just type "facebook" into the browser address bar or search bar, not understanding or even knowing about the concept of a website address/URL.

I just recently got into bit coins but have little to no understanding of how they work. I've heard about mining coins but that is foreign to me as well. I will be reading the newbie section and trying to learn as much as possible.

[cdog]

The easiest way in my opinion is give them some BTC on coinbase. Once they have some of their own, they will be much more likely to appreciate its value and learn more about it.

It can be a tiny amount, like .01, its just that they have some. The best people to give it to are people ages 10-20, as they are the future, and younger people tend to be more open minded.

[btcusury]

The idea is that you give them 1 BTC as an incentive (omg, $900 free??) to start learning about it.

That was my thought behind giving the kids, their significant others, and grandkids each a bitcoin for xmas. So far, it has sparked quite a bit of follow up.

Brilliant! You gave me this idea: Bitcoin for Birthdays Project

I'd suggest having them watch the Andreas video:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSdnuFOLV4nMiQG9gvPBX_VQUf6E4COM

…then, rather than getting caught up in the daily price volatility, they will come to understand the bigger picture and "get it."

Completely agree, but how do you get them to watch the video? What's the incentive?

The easiest way in my opinion is give them some BTC on coinbase. Once they have some of their own, they will be much more likely to appreciate its value and learn more about it.

It can be a tiny amount, like .01, its just that they have some. The best people to give it to are people ages 10-20, as they are the future, and younger people tend to be more open minded.

.01 BTC might work with children, but most adults wouldn't bother with that amount. For most people it has to be substantial.

I just recently got into bit coins but have little to no understanding of how they work. I've heard about mining coins but that is foreign to me as well. I will be reading the newbie section and trying to learn as much as possible.

Welcome! I hope you find Bitcoin as fascinating as all of us here!

[Papacrusher]

Here's what I do:

If he/she hasn't heard about Bitcoin or its recent price spike, I send them the 1-year daily price candlestick chart. I often get back the question "how do I buy bitcoins?"

Then I suggest setting up an account at an exchange and offer to send him/her 1 BTC to play with. For many people this is incentive enough to get into Bitcoin.

(Yes, for free, why not? If you're an early adopter, think of 1 BTC being worth what you bought it for, say $20, rather than its current price. You can of course offer 0.5 or any other number that you think will incentivise your friend/relative.)

You can probably classify most of your friends/relatives as "non-tech-savvy", but you can further divide that category into "some computer understanding" and "clueless", because obviously there's a lower limit of knowledge required to use Bitcoin. The person must be able to operate a computer to some extent. So how to know if your friend/relative is tech-savvy enough? One way I use is to ask them if they know the website address for Facebook. If a person doesn't know that "facebook.com" is the website address for Facebook, I just move on to the next person. Thanks to the dumbing-down efforts of Microsoft et al, it seems like over 50% of Facebook users just type "facebook" into the browser address bar or search bar, not understanding or even knowing about the concept of a website address/URL.

These are some really good ideas.  Until the general public embraces cryptocurrencies, we will not know the potential ceiling for what they can achieve.