(In response to question 1)
The Internet plays a vital role in many aspects of our daily lives; from how we communicate and socialize with one another, to how we create and learn from the virtually unlimited information pool that is the Internet. In this modern-day age of constant interaction with new technologies, such interaction has allowed for different views of what is considered the “contemporary internet user”. Our own personal experiences with using the internet no doubt have changed the way we go about our daily lives, not just in relation to technology but in relation to each other. One viewpoint is that such regular and personal experiences with the Internet has been for the better, with young people today being presented a myriad of options when it comes to their everyday activities, both in their social life and education/career. Another viewpoint- albeit a more critical perspective- considers the Internet (also known as the Web) to have altered our culture and the way that people interact with one another, not necessarily for the better. In other words, the Internet is changing human relationships, communication, and society.
Two articles by respected commentators of modern technology today- Marc Prensky's "Emerging online life of the digital native" and Dave Weinberger's "A New World"- present different viewpoints of how to perceive the Internet and its impact on the contemporary user; the former being a more positive outlook whilst the second article takes a more critical stance.
In the first article, Marc Prensky (2004, pp.1-2) believes that young people who have become highly adept at online activities can be classified as “digital natives”; digital technologies have developed and progressed as much as they have, so growing up with such technology is considered second-nature to them. As Prensky (20004, pg.13) states, “In a very short time technology has changed an entire generation’s behaviour radically…and the Digital Natives are programmed to- and want to- keep up with it.” Prensky uses the term “digital immigrants” (the opposite of a digital native) in his article constantly, referring to adults of ages similar to the parents of many 18-24 year olds.
Bennett, Maton & Kervin (2008, pg.778) argue that Prensky fails to consider that not all youths are digital natives, and that it is not so much age that defines a digital native but primarily their cultural understanding and attitudes towards online technology. This is a valid argument, as not all teenagers have access to a computer at home, and therefore their development and familiarity with online technology would be far different to someone who from a young age has had a home computer. Many young people have adapted to changes in online technology quite fast, due to constant access to computers at home and at school, yet such adaptation and familiarity is not just restricted for young people. A good example is Facebook. The social-networking site defies demographics; it’s popular with young children and old men. It has an active userbase the size of the United States and according to Compete, it has nearly tripled in size and is now almost as popular as Google or Yahoo. Even though Prensky’s article fails to understand the reality that there are more complex dynamics when it comes to the digital native then just age or generational pre-disposition, it is by no means an inaccurate portrayal of the contemporary internet user, just a viewpoint that fails to take any critical stance.
There is one application of online technology that has been utilized and accepted almost universally by not only young people, but also adults: social networking. Sites like Facebook and Myspace (both different social beasts) being perhaps the best examples of the social networking sites. This rise in Internet-based social-networks, or virtual communities as they have come to be called, has lead to not only communication between people who know each other primarily in real life, but between parties that have never met each other face to face (Weinberger 2007, pg.87).
In Dave Weinberger's article “A New World", that is precisely one of the issues of online technology. The World Wide Web has completely remodeled many of our behaviours and norms when it comes to socializing. As Weinberger (2002, pg.5) himself states, “We’re meeting new people we would of never dreamed of encountering. More important, we’re meeting new aspects of ourselves.” What he alludes to is the sense that the Web isn’t making us more or less social, but changing the way we view ourselves as social beings. Because Internet-based social-networking has become so prevalent, the norms of socializing and communicating with one another have changed dramatically. A study conducted by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society showed that the internet could be the ultimate isolating technology that further reduced participation in communities even more than did automobiles and television before it. In a physical sense, that much is true; we may no longer spend as much face to face time with one another due to the fact that mostly everything we need to get across in such scenarios (verbally and to some extent, non-verbally) can be achieved with greater ease. It is important to remember that whilst the internet isolates us from each other, it also simultaneously brings us closer together.
Mark Zuckerberg (the co-founder of Facebook) stated in a keynote address that once every century, a new communicative medium is created. Whilst Zuckerberg wasn’t directly stating his part in creating such a medium, it is very possible that Facebook in particular, could fulfill such a prophecy. Facebook offers something that no other online social applications have yet to do: it ties communication to identity by allowing for quick chat and long conversation. It has also allowed for the traditional ways we share things with our social network to evolve, for Facebook handles photo and video data and ties them together with a series of different ways to talk, both subtle and blatant (email & IM).
Because of these advancements in online technologies, teenagers and adults alike have had to face social structures unfamiliar to them and social networking sites have no doubt complicated how we view ourselves and one another in the ‘public life' (Boyd 2008, pg.20). Simply, the internet and its social applications has transformed the way we socialize and communicate today, and even if there are dangers lurking in that transformation (online predators being one), Marc Prensky (2004, pg.3) was correct when he believed that digital natives would begin to ‘create and evolve online reputation systems’ to help them keep safe in this new social dimension.
Print Resources -- Books
Weinberger, D 2007, Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder, Times Books, New York
Weinberger, D 2002, ‘A New World’ in Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web, Basic Books, Melbourne.
Electronic Journal Articles:
Bennett, S. Maton, K & Kervin, L 2008, ‘The “Digital Natives” debate: A critical review of the evidence’ in British Journal of Educational Technology,
Volume 39 Issue 5, Pages 775 – 786, JSTOR. Web. 21 Oct. 2009.
Boyd, D. ‘Why Youth ♥ Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life’ in Youth, Identity, and Digital Media, JSTOR. Web. 21 Oct. 2009.
Prensky, M 2004 ‘The Emerging Online Life of the Digital Native’, www.marcprensky.com/.../Prensky-The_Emerging_Online_Life_of_the_Digital_Native-03.pdf
Websites:
Compete, "Site comparison of Facebook.com", viewed 22 Oct.
<http://siteanalytics.compete.com/facebook.com+google.com+yahoo.com/>
O’Toole, K 2000, "Study offers early look at how Internet is changing daily life", Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, viewed 22 Oct.
<http://www.stanford.edu/group/siqss/Press_Release/press_release.html>
Satariano, A 2009, "MySpace Views Facebook as ‘Fundamentally Different’ ", Bloomberg.com, viewed Oct 22.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aX6CarmEjeK4>
Zuckerberg, M, "Keynote Speech at f8 2008", Facebook, viewed 21 Oct.
<http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=28083185043
