265) The Digital Natives

Before I get started - big day in Natalie world! Today is my 265th post, which means I am a mere 100 days away from finishing The Plan. I remember when I hit my 100th post, and I commented on how pleasant 100 looks as a number. Now it serves as a counting down point, which is crazy to me. Ok, now onto the post.



I consider myself fairly technologically savvy, well-versed in matters of the Internet and digital media. Of course I am - I'm a card carrying member of the infamous demographic known as the Millennials. But before we get too excited about those under 30 and what we're doing with social media and the like, stop and consider the yet to be named group of tweens that are poised to take over the digital world.

Think about it. There is a group of kids out there who have known the Internet their whole lives. They are what clever media analysts like to call digital natives (the rest of us being digital immigrants). Because their whole existence has involved the web, social media, digital media and smartphones, they are fundamentally wired differently. It's like a whole other social being we're dealing with here.

Granted, the underlying human truths that I love are still there - they just manifest themselves in new ways. Our need to belong, our search for validation of ourselves and our choices, etc. are simply executed differently.

The challenge then, is to study this younger subset without us digital immigrants (I'd like to think that I'm somewhere in between...digital ex-pat?) letting our view of the world influence it. It's one of those tricky things that immediately gets awkward as soon as you start to analyze it. Example - the cringe-worthiness of adults talking about the newest fad or lingo amongst the young 'uns. See also - trying to force something to be viral. Shudder.