The two texts “The Emerging Life of the Digital Native” by Marc Prensky and “A New World” by David Weinberger both present different views of the contemporary Internet user. Presnky’s portrayal of the contemporary Internet user suggests that “digital natives” (younger generations who are adept at all new technologies) are finding new ways of approaching everyday activities and life in general through the use of new technologies. By skillfully implementing these new technologies in their lives, they are fostering new behaviours different to that of their counterparts the “digital immigrants.” Weinberger takes a different stance to Prensky. He says that the web is a new virtual world and society is having trouble coordinating the two. He believes that the web is a huge concept that is changing bedrock notions of culture and ultimately, altering man as a social animal. The two texts are both accurate portrayals of societal interaction with the web, although are conflicting in their ideas. Despite this, there is harmony throughout the two articles and when read in conjunction; a deeper understanding of the contemporary Internet user can be gained.
Marc Prensky’s article outlines a topical and important issue among youth and their interaction with the web. He has compiled a list of what the digital natives are doing differently because of new technologies and the new ways they are approaching their lives. The list includes communicating, buying and selling, trading, creating, meeting, collecting, coordinating, evaluating, gaming, learning, searching, analyzing, reporting, programming, socializing, evolving and growing up. The length of the list proves how new technologies and the web is permeating every aspect of life for these digital natives. In contrast, the digital immigrants use these technologies to perform basic operations and can often feel uncomfortable in the natives’ territory. Michelle Wilkinson, a published writer for Helium.com says that
“The internet is often presented as a young person's toy… It is therefore not surprising if older people sometimes feel a little bit left out. Some can even be a little intimidated, especially if their knowledge of computers is rather limited” (Wilkinson 2009)
The way the older generations approach the internet directly contrasts with the way the digital natives utilize this technology. Prensky draws an accurate picture of younger generations and their interaction with the Internet. The Internet has changed the way they are social, with networking sites and instant chat replacing mail and phone as the “normal” modes of communication. The Stanford Internet Study says that email is the most common internet activity, with over 90% of internet users claiming to be emailers. The notion that the internet is changing the way digital natives are social is further proved by a study from Nielsen//NetRatings, a global leader in Internet media and market research. They found that the top 10 social networking sites have collectively grown 47 percent year over year. Another important aspect for the digital natives is buying and selling. This has been revolutionized by eBay, as now the digital natives can purchase anything they need from their computer. The Internet has also become a great research tool, with online journal articles and databases making themselves more accessible and sometimes more informational than library books. Chris Davis, a published author in the English Journal, notes in his research that the internet can answer many questions unanswerable by books. He goes on to explain that “Interviews, observations and real life experiences enrich the quality of the research and help enliven and personalise the final research paper” (Davis 1995, pp. 27). This kind of research is easily accessible on the internet and has altered the way students now approach their assignments.
These examples prove that the digital natives do use many new technologies to strategize the way they are surviving in the 21st century, although not to the extent Prensky explains in his article. He suggests that the Internet is the main way of living for the digital natives and although many of their activities are technology based, youth in society can still recognize the importance of face to face interaction, evaluating people based on their personalities rather than their online reputation and many other activities that fit into the pre-digital age.
David Weinberger’s chapter “A New World” takes a look at the Web’s effect on society as a whole. He says that the web is a new world as it differs from reality through time, space, knowledge, social groups, morality, perfection, self and matter. He goes on to explain that the web is a huge concept that is changing bedrock notions of culture and in order to study its effect on man as a social animal, we must consider all these notions as a whole. This new world is confusing and we are having trouble coordinating the changing notions with reality, as it is filled with anomalies not normally deemed as acceptable in society. In the internet community, downloading music, playing violent video games and accessing porn is a normal occurrence. A study done by Podcasting News in 2008 shows that
“On average every iPod or digital music player contained 842 illegally copied songs. The proportion of illegally downloaded tracks rises to 61 per cent among 14 to 17-year-olds. In addition, 14 per cent of CDs (one in seven) in a young person’s collection are copied” (Lewin, 2008).
Theft is considered a criminal action in society but in the online community, pirating music is an accepted norm of the culture.
Weinberger’s view of the web is also accurate and encompasses a larger proportion of the population than Prensky’s article. Many people have been introduced to the internet and are still coming to terms with this new world. People are discovering different aspects of themselves through the things they can newly accomplish. For example, they can play around with the new notions of time and space by exposing themselves in weblogs or by socializing through instant chat or email.
Weinberger says that this new virtual world comes with a new culture and this is affecting established culture in the real world by changing the already grounded ideals. This correlates with the notion that the Internet is ultimately making man less social. As the concept of social groups merges to the online world, people are relying less on face to face interaction and this can be damaging to their social skills in general. This is proved in a study about the effects of social networking sites on relationships by Joe Thomas from the University of Sonama. He reports that
“The cues that are given during the social networking process are not clear, as with online communication you cannot see the person or hear their tone. Messages often get corrupted, misconstrued, and can lead to conflict among social groups, which directly supports the original hypothesis that social networking sites have a negative effect on its users especially for college students” (Thomas 2007).
Weinberger further analyses this theory by saying that the lines between the public and the private are being redrawn on the web and many people are getting in trouble for failure to distinguish between the two. For example, sending something in an email that you may find amusing may offend someone else since they can’t pick up tones of sarcasm or humour. This is evident within our culture and extends to social networking sites. People may share things on Facebook or Twitter that their networks deem as unacceptable.
To further look at how the web is influencing man to become less social, notions of friendship, self, society and morality must be examined. Many people have relationships based purely on online interaction, which has changed immensely from the past. A 2002 IPSOS-Reid survey in North America claimed that by mid 2003 up to 37 million people in North America were supposedly using online dating services each month, with the industry doubling each 12 months for the last year (Arnold, B 2008). In these sites and others, the self can be highly controlled and the individual can present a concentrated view of themselves to the internet community. Morality is nearly non existent on the web, with a lack of rules and authority contrasting to the politics of the real world. When all these essential ideas of the social are altered, it is inevitable that man as a social animal will change. Whether it is making man less or more social is up to the individual and their own personal beliefs.
Both views of the contemporary internet user are accurate, although each text assesses different aspects of the culture. Prensky focuses primarily on the younger generations and the way new technologies have become a strategy for them to live in the 21st century. Weinberger centers his article on the web being a new world, confusing and alien, but one that must be explored to understand the way it is changing our culture. Although the articles are conflicting, there is some harmony of ideas. Both authors acknowledge the widespread use of technologies and the effect this is having on society. Both authors explain the ways the individual can socialize and coordinate their lives through the web. Prensky believes that people are adapting easily while Weinberger says they are struggling. The two ideas of the contemporary internet user encompass the majority of the population, as older and younger generations find different ways to survive in the technological age. Because of this, a deeper understanding of the contemporary user can be gained from reading both articles in conjunction. It cannot be said as to which view is correct, as the web is still a new technology and its implications for the culture have not been fully studied yet. The two texts are presenting surface ideas that suggest at large concepts affecting society now and in the future. The articles can give some basic understandings to conduct further research with. Only when time has passed will society gain a full understanding of the effects of the web on culture and the most effective way they can utilize this new technology.
References:
Arnold, B 2008, Caslon analytics note online matchmaking, Caslon Analytics, ACT, Australia, accessed 20th October, 2009, <http://www.caslon.com.au/datingnote1.htm>
Davis, C 1995, ‘The i-search paper goes global: using the internet as a research tool’, The English Journal, vol .84 no. 6, pp. 27, JSTOR, viewed 18th October, 2009, <http://www.jstor.org.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/stable/820886?&Search=yes&term=tool&term=youth&term=research&term=internet&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dinternet%2Bresearch%2Btool%2Byouth%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc%3Don&item=15&ttl=978&returnArticleService=showArticle>
Lewin, J 2008, Average teen’s ipod has $800 worth of stolen music, Podcasting News, accessed 17th October, 2009,< http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/06/16/average-teens-ipod-has-800-of-pirated-music/>
Prensky, M 2004, The emerging online life of the digital native, accessed 16th October, 2009,
Thomas, J 2007, Social networking sites effect on relationships among college students, Associated Content Inc., accessed 20th October, 2009, <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/393599/social_networking_sites_effect_on_relationships_pg3.html?cat=9>
Weinberger, D 2002, 'A New World', in Small Pieces Loosely Joined, Perseus Books.
Wilkinson, M 2009, Why the older generation can find the internet intimidating, Helium Inc., USA, accessed 17th October 2009, <http://www.helium.com/items/1574051-why-the-older-generation-can-find-the-internet-intimidating>
5 Websites Relevant to the Topic1. This website shows the world statistics for the internet. You can see any country by clicking on the links. It also comes with handy graphs for a visual representation of the world scale.
Internet Coaching Library 2009, Miniwatts Marketing Group, accessed 22nd of October 2009, www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
2. This is an interesting article that I didn't get the chance to use in my essay about the effects of the internet on the social and psychological wellbeing. They says that it is ironic, as the internet is perceived to be a social technology but it is having a negative effect on its users. I think the study was cited in Weinberger's chapter.
Kraut R, Patterson M, Lundmark V, Kiesler S 1998, 'Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological wellbeing?', American Psychologist, vol. 53 no.9, accessed 22nd of October, 2009, <http://psychnet.apa.org>
3. This article is again from Helium.com and shows someone's own views in how we coordinate our lives around new technologies. The ideas correlate with those presented in Prensky's article.
Seper, R 2009, Study questions social effects of internet communication, Helium.Inc, USA, accessed 22nd of October, <http://www.helium.com/items/648679-study-questions-social-effects-of-internet-communication>
4. Another psychology website posted an article on the types of people who use internet dating. This can provide further insight into social effects of the internet and online relationships, a key point in Weinberger's text.
Grohol, J 2009, Who uses internet dating, World of Psychology, accessed 22nd of October 2009, <http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/23/who-uses-internet-dating/>
5. This website is about the future of the internet, an important concept as we need to know where the internet is headed in order to fully comprehend the effects it will have on our society. It contains predictions about where the internet is headed.
Elon University 2009, Pew Internet Project, USA, accessed 22nd of October 2009, www.imaginingtheinternet.org/
