Mommy, when I grow up I want to be an avatar...
Never before has there been such a fundamental schism in the nature of identity and society within a single generation.The rapid penetration and ubiquitous adoption of technology within developed countries has obviously shifted how we live, work and play.Every person alive exists somewhere on the spectrum between people who have never used technology and people who have been immersed in it since birth.One common characterisation of the two halves on this line are the Digital Migrants (technology in their lives is like coming to a new country) and Digital Natives (for whom being connected by technology feels like home).
There has been much written on this generational gap and what it means for employers, governments and society.However, I just wanted to post some thoughts on what this means to the Digital Migrant(DMs) parents of a Digital Native(DN).
These parents are outside their comfort zone, they have no frame of reference to their own childhood, they struggle to understand the technology and advice from their own parents is likely to be wildly off the mark.
The first instinct of parents is to protect, from all the well-documented threats of online predators, cyber bullying, scam artists etc. In addition to this natural reaction, DMs will refer back to their own childhood activities, encouraging their DN to play outside, go for a bikeride, have friends over, etc. And it all seem like sensible, responsible parenting.
However, these actions neglect one of the principle obligations of a parent, to nurture and develop their offspring into a functioning, contributing individuals as adults. And here the DMs are hamstrung. Their legacy concept of identity is no longer adequate.
The introduction of continuous connectivity, virtual worlds, social networks and increasing amount of personal data persisted in the cloud has extended what it means to exist. A DN is not just the little bundle of joy - or collection of moodswings - which learns, eats, sleeps and plays in the physical world. Part of who they are is always on 24/7, 365 days a year, either as a social network profile which is making new friends and being extended by the network, or as an electronic avatar which is representing them in virtual worlds or just a set of preferences collecting RSS feeds.
These may be relatively trivial and debatable extensions of "identity" but when these DNs grow up, this information and internet history will develop, along with technology sophistication, to produce one or more avatars which acts based on reputation, can negotiate to suit preferences, can coordinate play or work. Our online representation will become an important and critical part of who we are. It's hard when your computer crashes, imagine how would your son or daughter feel if their avatar "died"?
So I challenge parents to get out of their comfort zone and find a balance between protectionism and encouragement of their children. Careful planning, monitoring and oversight of their online existence can define a new kind of space, just like the backyard or park, where they can develop life skills and grow as personalities. The adult world for their lifetimes is mostly beyond our imagining, but at least we can prepare them to follow their dreams.
Comments
Can all these problems not be resolved by considering the internet as a society, and imparting social skills to kids be the job of the parents?
Posted by: kidguardlive | November 9, 2007 08:19 AM
I think that if we can understand that the internet is part of the platform that underpins our society we will be off to a great start.
Just like the physical platform - i.e. the world - it has its dangers but we must learn to understand these and work within these constraints.
However, I think it is overly optimistic to expect parents across the board to be capable of imparting the necessary social skills. In an environment of such rapid social change, the pioneers at the forefront of change have an obligation to work with governments, education systems and technology companies to ensure the platform is a positive enabler for socities growth and evolution.
Posted by: Ilya Joel-Pitcher | November 12, 2007 01:57 AM
I think the first step towards accepting and recognizing the Digital world should come from corporate. We have seen this happening in case of Second Life (a Virtual world) which is being used by corporate for recruitments and reaching out to the world. This would encourage parents to come out and look upon something, which is already being very well accepted by corporates. DMs due to very nature of their upbringing tend to have a defensive approach and want to make their child feel secure and protected.
DM can then come up to the DN level and work/partner with them to enable and ensure that the digital world is doing well for DNs.
Posted by: Krishna Sanganeria | February 29, 2008 02:38 AM