What exactly makes someone a “Digital Native?”

Nearly everyone assumes the modern teen is internet obsessed.

Sure, 92% of teenagers report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online “almost constantly”. But teens and their addiction to all things web doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a digital native. Nor is someone who just so happened to grow up in the Internet age.

So what exactly makes someone a “digital native”?

Marc Prensky, known for inventing and popularizing the terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant”, said the following: “The most important thing to realize is that this is a metaphor. It’s not a distinction or a brand, it’s extremely fluid.”

“Digital immigrants are people who grew up in one digital culture and moved into another,” Prensky explained. “Digital natives are people who grew up in one culture. They don’t have two cultures to compare.”

 “Many notions and definitions have popped up in a number of places, and they’re often fairly contested,” said Lee Rainie, the Pew Research Centre’s Director of Internet, Science and Technology. “A native is someone who is totally aware and understands technology.”

Rainie goes on to explain that many scholars and analysts believe even though digital natives are good at using platforms and social media, they don't necessarily always know how to code or how these apps work.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the concept “digital natives vs. immigrants” is the fact that it mostly has to do with the background and surroundings — not so much age of the person in question. Rainie, whose team has been tracking digital patterns for the past 16 years, says the “native vs. immigrant” divide essentially comes down to desktop compared to mobile-based usage.

“You can see how people who grew up in the age of wired computers differ from those who grew up with mobile technology.”

Today’s youth is more likely to be digitally native than their parents or grandparents. This comes into play with things like using trendy social platforms and services, such as Snapchat, as opposed to Facebook (the traditional social platform) or email.

You can see the differences inside families, too — even four or five-year age differences result in varying experiences with digital media.

These variances have effects on the way they consume media. In the past couple of decades, historical events have all been documented differently according to the preferred media of their day. Whereas some were mainly documented through cable television and emerging online coverage.

Today, however, digital natives may not be necessarily tech savvy, but their sense of knowledge of what’s going on both digitally and culturally is what sets them up to be natives.

More often than not, teens have a self-awareness of the privilege they have of growing up in an all-digital era.

A study shows 57% of teens have met a new friend online, while social media and online gameplay are the two top ways to meet friends digitally.

It’s also ushered in different career paths, 18-year-old Isabel Radice says: “I love watching talks and reading articles online about Facebook’s algorithms; it helped me realize I have an interest in programming and coding.”

But overall, the online world is how digital natives form a good portion of their identity.

When it comes to this type of cultural grouping, it’s no secret embracing digital platforms has been popularized by younger demographics. Those ages 18 to 29 have always been the most likely users of social media by a considerable margin.

Overall, just because you grew up with the Internet, doesn’t mean you are a digital native.

To fully consider someone a digital native points to the fact that these people are deeply immersed into this world, they see everything such as the benefits — the love, emotional side — and at the same time, they see the cyberbullying and harassments.

At the end of the day, a digital native is someone who gets it, for all the good and bad that it offers.

Are you looking for IT support, advice or equipment? Contact The Computer Guyz in Cape Town or Centurion for a wide range of options. From general repairs and network solutions to website hosting and graphic design - The Computer Guyz have it all!