Week 9 - Youngest digital immigrant I know

I can honestly say that I don’t know a young person who does not fully embrace technology. I have much younger cousins with mobiles and watch whilst they attempt to teach my grandpa to read text messages. I imagine that it would be very difficult to grow up in such a techophilic society without the knowledge that seems to be ingrained our youth. This highlights the issues surrounding the digital divide, and how people can feel alienated if they can’t keep up.

I would say that the youngest digital immigrant I know is almost 30 (I know this does not fully support the task as, technology has advanced too much in the past decade when she was already an adult). Although she has (sort of) grown up with newer technology she hasn’t particularly embraced them. She does, however, have a computer and the internet and a mobile phone, it just seems that she doesn’t really make the most of them and know the different ways to use them. This age is a difficult one because I imagine that people fall at either side of the digital immigrant/native divide.

The idea of digital immigration and digital natives seems to be proven in general, however, technology seems to be run, made and mediated by adults. It is not exclusive to the young, who may feel outcast by new technologies if they aren’t ahead of the game.