I came a fascinating concept the other day, one that somehow had escaped my radar and quite frankly it blew my mind. Suddenly it was like a light had appeared from above and was revealing a whole new way to see the world.
The concept was that of digital “natives” and digital “immigrants” in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Perhaps you have heard this terminology before, perhaps it makes total sense to you and perhaps by the very nature of my age, and by not knowing, I have betrayed my own status within this world.
Way back in 2001, Marc Prensky was already using the terminology digital “native” and digital “immigrant” in relation to education, learning and evolution of teaching methodology. Simply, digital native refers to the fact that for the first time in human existence, our current generation (post 1980) is the first to grow up entirely in a world informed and driven by digital technology. They are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. They haven’t known anything different. And as a consequence, the way their brains have developed is different and the way they process and manipulate data is different. Surely this means that the very way they see the world is different?
By contract, we have digital immigrants. These “immigrants” are those not born into a fully digital world, but who have to a lesser or greater degree merged with it. Perhaps we can call ourselves digital adopters. I am a digital adopter – I have seen the digital world revealed to me in my lifetime. I am of the age of library books and letters, analogue phone calls and a world with no mobile phones and gasp….no internet. I also have lived through the evolution of the internet from clunky dial up and crazy page layouts accessed from home computers, to the development of the mobile phone that provides on the go browsing at all hours of the day.
I can hardly believe it when I recall going off to Madagascar on an adventure. When I got there I had to find a working landline phone and call my parents to let them know I was alive. Any further comms were by letter. Letter!!!! Those little flimsy blue airmail envelopes. And now we are in the world of constant tracking and always always on line. The tech revolution is spreading it’s tentacles throughout the world. Although there is still massive disparity of digital connection within countries, poverty extending now to data and devices, we also know that there are 650 million mobile phone users in Africa. Remember when Mpesa launched in Kenya in 2007 ? It revolutionised money transfer and cash access.
But I digress. Perhaps the most interesting element about digital development is the idea that if you take the language analogy, adopters retain an “accent” from their pre-digital life. Have you ever worked with someone who wants information printed out for them – that’s a heavy accent. Need to work on a hard copy of a document rather than editing on line? That’s your accent. Tendency to show people an interesting website on your computer screen rather than just send them the link? Accent.
So, is it any wonder that it feels impossible to talk to each other sometimes? The way that these groups want to receive information is different – different formats, different speeds, different visuals. Multi-tasking, multi-processing of information – all done differently. I chuckle when I see the TikTok of the young kids, very adept at living in the digital world hundred times more so than their parents, struggle to operate a rotary phone. It just does not compute. Apparently, digital natives tend to put subtitles on movies, because they are so used to seeing subtitled social media posts.
Understanding that humans across the world do not simply fall into one of these two groups, it is however interesting to see how the world view of these groups can differ. If you have grown up within the Fourth Industrial Revolution, do you see connectivity as a threat to your individual freedoms or a natural and helpful progression? Do you see your skills and experience eroded by technological advancements or do you embrace the creativity and expansion this brings? And lets not even start with artificial intelligence…
It is absolutely fascinating to zoom out a little from within the digital dome and just ponder on these things. What does this mean for human development, for policy priorities, for resource management, for health and wellness? What does it mean for implementing system change within our organisations and our homes. What does it mean for human connection and growth ? What does it mean for connecting data to outcomes to impact? Where do you sit on the digital native to adopter spectrum ?
Perhaps I need to revisit my health and safety gamification strategy…..
