Hardwired Since Toddlerhood; Digital Natives!
A few years ago, I was working for internet website for children. We sat down to a meeting where I embarassingly outed myself as a digital native when I said something to this extent,
“Well when I was twelve I was doing that online.“
Everyone paused as they realized that this was true. Oh man!
Here was the divide… I was the only person who had the experience of being part of our target demographic in an online environment. Mind you the online environment was CompuServe and this was just after they moved from ASCII to a real interface! Woo! This means a kid today would think I am a fogey because really, who would have used a program like CompuServe? C’mon!
My name is Kristen and I am a Digital Native… I guess.
Recent articles like this one have shown that some brain doctors think that digital natives who have been “hardwired since toddlerhood” have weaker brain circuits when it comes to face to face contact which can lead to things like social awkwardness, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom learning.
Oh mercy.
But wait! There’s an upside! This book exerpt from “Born Digital- Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives” seems to have a semi-positive slant to having a Digital Native on your team to understand the constantly changing online world.
Here’s a quote about my generation,
“There is one thing you know for sure: These kids are different. They study, work, write, and interact with each other in ways that are very different from the ways that you did growing up. They read blogs rather than newspapers. They often meet each other online before they meet in person. They probably don’t even know what a library card looks like, much less have one; and if they do, they’ve probably never used it. They get their music online—often for free, illegally—rather than buying it in record stores. They’re more likely to send an instant message (IM) than to pick up the telephone to arrange a date later in the afternoon. They adopt and pal around with virtual Neopets online instead of pound puppies. And they’re connected to one another by a common culture. Major aspects of their lives—social interactions, friendships, civic activities—are mediated by digital technologies. And they’ve never known any other way of life.”
Bah!
I feel so unaffected by learning this! I’ve sat in on so many of these kind of lectures and speeches, where I see adults (digital immigrants, if we’re speaking the lingo), ask “real kids” that have been brought in if they like to do things like use facebook to make plans with their friends versus the phone.
It’s just silly sometimes that it needs to feel like a whole ET meets Elliott situation, with huge revelations such as, “Yes, teenagers DO like to text in class!”
I know it might be simple for me to say to people thinking about this topic to just, “be cool” but c’mon! We’re not a different species! We’re work collagues, students and people to create media for.
My work meeting ended nicely. Everybody was just cool about it and knew enough to not make a big deal out of the whole thing. Fortunately I worked with a cool team that kept going and actually wound up using my experience to better our output.
Sure brains may be wired differently, but it’s because they’ve evolved and are working with new surroundings and ways of interacting with technology. Maybe kids are spending too much time on the computer, but they’re more socially intelligent in online situations than digital immigrants. Our strengths come from what we’ve experienced, and by working together- ditigal natives and digital immigrants can expect an optimal result.
Here’s another article on the topic.
This is fascinating stuff!
As an old fogey I was in on the emergence of the net and the web starting back in '82. At the time I was already 25 years old, so I can hardly be considered a "digital native" but I like to think I'm still managing to straddle the divide without ripping myself asunder.
As with any cultural or political shift the extant powers will ALWAYS seek to deride, label or dissect that which they do not – and cannot – understand. What they don't understand they fear and invariably what they fear they seek to destroy – or co-opt – or restrain.
You, my dear, are indeed a very different kind of human being. Same species, yes, but irrevocably altered by your connection with and use of digital technologies. My generation was similarly altered by our exposure to television – and rock & roll. Every human age marks an evolution in thought and ability and perception – sometimes subtle, sometimes seismic.
It's interesting to remember that reading is a human invention. Carved runes on stone, rolls of parchment, the most basic of books – all are "technology" and what we now take for granted was once a profound change in the way people thought and behaved – and subsequently the world they lived in was inevitably changed as a result.
The electric lightbulb, as another example, is only about 130 years old but it has significantly altered how we conduct our lives on this planet.
Your part in human evolution marks an opportunity for human beings to be able to not just work and speak together across the vast divide of space and time – with access to all of our collected knowledge – you are also on the cusp of shared thought and emotion, existing as individuals and as a collective entity of human will.
That's big shit, sis.
I may have pointed you in the direction of Kevin Kelly before but he's always worth checking out in this regard – like this post he made on what he calls "Screen Fluency": http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/11/screen_fluency.php
There are wonderous things still to be learned by any generation from the passing era of analogue media – but I must admit to being jealous of the natural immersion within the digital sea that yourself and others are now swimming in.
You're the mermaid – I'm the old man in the boat.
And I'm trusting you to watch out for the rocks.
Cheers.
I can’t wait to see what I’ll be watching develop with the next generation. Thanks for the comment Robbo!
[...] 31 2010 • Categorized in: Uncategorized I know this isn’t the first time I’ve discussed digital natives on this blog, but it’s the topic this week for [...]