First post!
According to the readings and videos assigned for this week, age has formerly been considered a predominant factor in the successful engagement with technology and the internet, due to the fact that younger generations have grown up with technology and the internet, and have had exposure to them while living throughout their developmental periods of life. According to the video and reading by David White, growing up with internet makes it easier for the individual to learn and adapt to new technological environments, and compares this adaptation to the similar idea of learning a second language: if you grow up learning it, you will learn it better than trying to learn at an older age, as well as be able to learn multiple languages after have grown up learning two. I find this comparison to be very practical and make sense, as it is more likely the older generations are not as adaptable when it comes to technology developments. Some assumptions made about digital natives are that they tend to be of the younger generations, and are more adaptable than “digital immigrants”. In addition, digital natives are more easily able to find information on the internet, and use the internet to carry out tasks, and are even better at multitasking. These assumptions are somewhat true, but further into the readings, I found that “digital natives” don’t apply to the entire youth generations: there is a variance in socioeconomic and cultural factors that may keep young generations from being as “digitally native” as others, so it cannot be applicable to an entire generation. In addition, I do think it is necessary to teach younger generations about digital literacy skills, because although they have practically grown up being exposed to the digital culture, they need to know the risks around it, and also know how to use technology correctly, while also keeping themselves safe.
When pondering whether I would consider myself a digital native, visitor, or resident, I would definitely say I am further towards a resident on the spectrum. Although I use the internet like a visitor to do some things, I definitely partake in using social media and networking sites, leave a social trace, and also have created a digital identity for myself through multiple sites. I definitely spend my fair share of time in online communities, whether it be facebook groups linked to my interests, or following like-minded people I have never met before but share common interests. It sometimes freaks me out to wonder how much of my information is out there publicly- I was horrified to find out recently that my address is online and public, along with my other family members and friends, and freaks me out to see the crossovers between our digital personalities and our real lives. It worries me as well, to know that someone could easily find out a lot of my information with minimal effort on the web if they needed to… I feel as I grow older, I will try to make an effort to lessen my digital footprint and social trace, as I feel I have shared too much personal information in my adolescent years that now I somewhat regret!
One point made in the Mesch article I found to be interestingly important, was how Mesch talks about the internet as a culture, specifically how he claims that we can use the virtual world to reflect constructively on the real. I found this to be not only an interesting point, and a super relatable one as well. I couldn’t even start to list off how many things I have learned in the “virtual world”, that I was able to apply to my real life, and who knows if I would have learned otherwise! For example, whenever I have problems with my friends or family, or issues that are harder to resolve and take more consideration, I always turn to the internet. People are much more willing to share experiences, advice, and stories online with others, that I wouldn’t be able to get as easily from the everyday people around me. I love looking up how to resolve issues and what is recommended to do when in a sticky situation, and unless you know someone personally who has been in the exact same situation, you would never be able to find out! In addition, I like how Mesch describes the differences between virtual and physical relationships. He states that virtual relationships can be seen as more intimate, richer, and liberating than offline relationships — because they are based on genuine and mutual interest, rather than the coincidence of physical proximity. I have never honestly thought of it that way, but it is not very easy to understand. It makes sense that online relationships have the tendency to be richer, because you can easily find people with similar interests as you, that don’t have the obligation to be your friend due to proximity!
