OII SDP 2007 (I): Digital Natives

Ismael Peña-López

17 years ago

Leads: John Palfrey, Urs Gasser

With over a million young people “born digital,” now is the time to examine the emerging trends of how these digital natives construct identity, learn, create, and socialize in an ever-changing “always on” landscape. How do we give digital natives the tools (in terms of know-how, technology, social norms, or other means) to navigate safely in the emerging digital social space? How can copyright holders work with digital creators to understand their needs and practices in a way that doesn’t stifle their creativity? As a global society, can we come to understand what’s happening with a generation online, to embrace a digital present, and to shape, in constructive ways, a more digital future?

Working papers on Digital Divide, the Spread of the Internet and Political Institutions

What does it mean to be a Digital Native?

Digital Identity: Identity was something I could control… can I control my Digital Identity? Or, on the contrary: online identity can be shaped, created absolutely the way I want it to be
Multitasking: Distraction or multitasking?
Digital Media: Flickr, Google Print, YouTube…
Digital Creativity: Consumers in the past… what now? Quite a switch. Can we relate it with… Democracy?

Technologies that enable/empower the digital native

RSS feeds, of course, that link together (free) web 2.0 applications.
Lightweight collaboration: Wikipedia?
New contexts, new meanings
Tagging
International scope: shrinking the world

Example: Couchsurfing

Issues:

Security
Privacy: unintended audience; how to remove information about me on the Internet, information that can be massively processed (i.e. image recognition); identity theft, erosion
Intellectual property: copyright, trademark
Credibility: specially relevant in the academic business
Information overload: we move from an environment of high quality information — because it is produced professionally — towards an amateur created information environment. Related: quality mechanics, reputation, etc. How many RSS feed subscriptions or e-mails a day can you tolerate?

Opportunities

Media literacy skills
expression/identity
empowering creators
information sharing
maintaining connections
semiotic democracy
access to information

My reflections

Wealth of Networks and peer production
Wikinomics
Prosuming
Connectivism

It’s the knowledge economy, stupid
Speaking in tongues
e-Awareness

How are enterprises and employer/employee relationships going to change?
What’s the role of Education (specially Higher Education) in the XXIst century?
How is values transmission going to be affedted?
The end of Democracy (vs. smartmobs and goal focused cyberactivism)?

Readings

Boyd, D. (2006). “Facebook’s ’Privacy Trainwreck’: Exposure, Invasion, and Drama”. In Apophenia Blog, September 8. Retrieved July 13, 2007 from http://www.danah.org/papers/FacebookAndPrivacy.html

Green, H. (2007). Their Space. Education for a Digital Generation. London: Demos. Retrieved July 13, 2007 from http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Their%20space%20-%20web.pdf

Lenhart, A. & Madden, M. (2005). Teen Content Creators and Consumers. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved July 13, 2007 from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Content_Creation.pdf

Mayer-Schönberger, V. (2007). Useful Void: The Art of Forgetting in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing. RWP07-022. Cambridge: Harvard University. Retrieved July 13, 2007 from http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP07-022/$File/rwp_07_022_mayer-schoenberger.pdf

Turkle, S. (0). “Always-on/Always-on-you: The Thetered Self”. In Katz, J. (Ed.), Handbook of Mobile Communications and Social Change. [forthcoming]. Cambridge: MIT Press.