Digital Natives & Digital Immigrants: Bridging the Gap for Stronger Communities

Posted by Shawna Gnutel, Associate Director, ECVO
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In the mid '80s, I was an undergraduate student at the U of A and spent long hours thumbing through worn index cards at the Rutherford library. (Where was Google when I needed it??) After days of researching, my essay was eventually composed on my mother's Smith Corona circa 1977.

Got the picture? I'm a dinosaur (listening to Neil Diamond on eight track).


AND 


I am a digital immigrant.


According to John Palfrey and Urs Gasser, authors of Born Digital, a digital immigrant is "a person who has adopted the Internet and related technologies, but who was born prior to the advent of the digital age." My younger friends, (aka Digital Natives), are those people born after 1980, and they do not get their information or learn the same way I did, that’s for sure!


Forget about TV and newspapers.


Their deal for getting information goes something like this:


Step 1.
They see lots of info/headlines and graze in an RSS feed or google alert. They just get the facts.


Step 2.
Then maybe they'll click on the hyperlink or what the author calls "going in for a deep dive."


Step 3.
This is the feedback loop where one can comment or create a blog..."talking back" but in a "good way".


Digital Natives have moved from being passive consumers of information to engaged creators of new art forms, avatars, social networks, pod casts, youtube videos, wikis and blogs. They have their finger on the pulse of digital creativity and are reshaping “cultural understanding” and the making of “meaning.”


There’s no question. What has happened with the digital landscape over the last few decades is transformative and extraordinary. And it changes substantially every few months! Palfrey and Gasser freely admit that "by the time [Born Digital] is printed, it will already be starting to go out of date."


So what to do?


The authors update their information online in the form of a wiki, thus allowing "anyone who wants to participate in updating [their] work to do so."  We all know that participation is the key ingredient to strong communities and as a digital immigrant working in the nonprofit sector, I observe local digital natives demanding interaction and a sense of community online (and offline) all the time.
You already know where they are, don’t you?

Interested to learn more about social media networks and how you can use them for your organization? Stay tuned for our amazing new Breakfast Series. "Network, Learn, Grow" - a forum for nonprofit leaders to discuss relevant topics and the latest buzz. Mark Tuesday
Nov. 24 on your calendar for this lively, exciting panel discussion:

"Digital Immigrants: How to use Social Media Successfully in Your Organization"


Register here for this terrific event!


 See you (offline) soon!


* I encourage everyone to read Born Digital. It's an excellent primer for those who wish to understand our brave new [digital] world.