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Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Where do you stand?
by Katie Ingold on 10.18.2011 in Public Relations, Trends + Surveys 4
As both a full-time Brightonian and graduate student at St. Louis University, I am constantly finding parallels between my workplace and academic life. My Contemporary Issues in Media class recently reviewed the essay “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” by Marc Prensky, which sparked my interest and made me contemplate the ways I interact as a digitally savvy twentysomething.
Basing his essay on the theory that technology has drastically changed the way we learn, Prensky states that there are two types of digital students (both in the academic and professional fields) in today’s world–the digital native and the digital immigrant. According to Prensky, digital natives are those who have grown up with technology. They are used to receiving information quickly and they like to parallel process and multitask. Eager for rewards, the digital native requires a fundamentally different approach to how they are taught information. (Big reason for this—video games!) Digital immigrants, on the other hand, are those who learned digital language later in life. They view learning new technology as a task or challenge, and are generally slower to adapt to this new environment, often keeping a digital “accent” in their daily activities.
When reading the article I naturally assumed that since I have grown up in the age of the internet I would easily classify myself as digital native. However, to my surprise, it is not that simple. Our class discussion quickly turned to questions of what makes a digital native (age, access to technology) and how newer technologies in the future may change this (the age of the iPhone, for example). All of this ultimately raises the question of how today’s digital native will be viewed in the future.
I recently read a blog post by fellow St. Louis media professional Chris Reimer which reflected on whether or not Facebook will become a thing of the past for the younger generation. Does the ever-evolving technology mean that there will always be a divide between the digitally savvy and the digital laggards? Or will the new learning mindset proposed by Prensky help us avoid the issue of digital knowledge inequalities in both academia and the workplace?
Despite this uncertainty, one thing is for sure: technology has changed the way we think and interact with one another.
So, where do you stand? Are you a digital immigrant or a native? Or, do you believe there are exceptions to the rules? We would love to hear your thoughts!
For more information on “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” by Marc Prensky, visit his website: http://www.marcprensky.com
Thanks for the shoutout! Great post…
Thanks, Chris!
Wow, Katie–thanks for giving my brain a workout!
I commented on Chris Reimer’s post, and I mentioned to him that his experience with his neighbor may say more about identity than it does about technology. In my view, people get involved with things (technologies, activities, brands) based on how they see themselves.
For example, some people dive right in when a new gadget or social technology comes along, while others don’t–but one’s level of interest isn’t necessarily driven by a factor such as age. That’s why you might see your older relatives excitedly jumping onto Facebook while young people like Chris Reimer’s neighbor ignore it (and vice versa). For me, one’s identity (cultural views, personality, etc.) often has more to do with their digital savviness than the demographic factors that define them.
Of course, factors such as income level do enable or limit one’s ability to connect digitally. To your point, however, the question of whether someone is a digital native or immigrant is all about context. We definitely need to keep this in mind as marketing professionals. To reach consumers in today’s world, we have to be armed with more than demographic data; we need to understand how consumers view and interact with their world, because that will affect how they can be reached.
Fantastic post, Katie. Keep up the good work!
Greg- Your point makes me think of the conversations we often have in marketing concerning “early adapters” and “mac users” – clearly technology has changed the way we think about and define ourselves. And as a result, we as marketers must now take these new aspects into consideration in order to best reach our audiences in this ever-evolving digital age. Thanks for offering such great insight!