Am I A Digital Native?

    According to the excerpt Born Digital by John Palfrey & Urs Gasser, I am a digital native, meaning that I was born after the year1980. I can't really remember a time when I did not have access to Internet, and I learned how to use the technology around me quickly and with ease. In a sense, you had to because you would get left behind if you didn't stay caught up. However, I am not like this fictitious personal assistant mentioned in the article. I enjoy writing letters still, every so often, because there is something more intimate about sitting down and hand-writing a letter to someone, versus typing something up. (As I type this up on my laptop...) It is particularly fun, personally, to write formal letters, because that is what many hiring companies look for in an employee, someone capable and able to comport oneself in an appropriate manner. I was appalled by some of my high school classmates' writing, which consisted of slang expressions such as: idk (I don't know), idts (I don't think so), lol (laugh out loud), haha, omg (Oh my God/gosh/goodness), jk (just kidding), lmao (laugh my a** off), etc. Was this seriously what America's literacy competency was dwindling down to? To me, it felt like this inability to write things out diminished the English language. It was not so much as personal, but it made me cringe, being a lover of intelligent, colorful, and well-utilized diction. Needless to say, I peer edited those students' writing harshly... (Oh, and I cannot stand when people type "U" instead of "you", or words in which they leave out vowels "jst lke ths". It's like, REALLY? Could you not expend the extra bit of effort it would have taken to type one or two more letters? Geez.)
There is even a website that comes up with new slang each day, interestingly enough.(Urban Dictionary)

        Yes, though I am one of the digital native generation, I do see the flaws of the digital world we live in, just as Mark Prensky's Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants presents. We are so involved and enveloped in the technology that continues to grow with the coming generations, that we are losing some part of us that used to be an essential element in our society in the past--the ability to function without our technology. This is so very true, because while even I enjoyed going outside and climbing trees and the like during my childhood, kids these days do not even have to move from their couches to find sources of entertainment. Also, cell phones (text messaging) and online social networks (Facebook, MySpace {Who uses MySpace anymore?}) have made kids more inaccessible to their parents, and more bold online. It is easier to say something you would never have the confidence nor the guts to say to someone in person on the Internet. It's a fact. However, texting and social networking has made these kids more susceptible to the negative influences of media such as pornography or vulgarity in society that no 7 or 10-year-old should ever have to see, even by accident.

     Interpreting emotions is one drawback to texting technologies, despite the easy accessibility and capabilities.While in person, one can discern what another individual is feeling usually from his or her facial expression and/or hand gestures. However, in reading text messages, it is much more difficult. Is this person being sarcastic or serious? That is one reason that even though I text, I still like calling people much more, rather than texting. It is easier to interact more thoroughly with others when you can actually hear their tone. Also, if you have a lot to say, it is easier to call; it spares you the future possibility of developing carpal tunnel. (Not fun...) Plus, I find the "auto-correct"/predictor settings on phones annoying.

      I would say that I am a "native speaker" of the digital world, but there are still many technologies that I don't understand, and personally, I am not sure that I want to. In my opinion, one technology leads to another, and so on. I am perfectly content with what I have because I have all I need. I don't need a computer to spell for me, nor do I need an automated search engine to tell me everything such as the iPhone 4S's "Siri". I find it a bit creepy. I don't really want to have a limited conversation with my phone. Seriously? That's what real people are for. Yes, it is intriguing, but is that really necessary??
      Unlike Henry Jenkins in his article Reconsidering Digital Immigrants, I do not really find fault or issue with being called a "Digital Native". The name applies. However, I do agree with his thoughts on separating the world into digital natives and digital immigrants--we should not. Though technologically, people can be on a different level, that should not cease the sharing that should naturally occur between adults and their children. When we lose communication and sharing that should be existent regardless the expanse of technology, then we might as well stop talking. I do not believe that assimilation into the digital age for digital immigrants should occur, at least not full assimilation, because that difference allows for the possibility of being able to direct kids (digital natives) into a not complete immersion into the technology that surrounds them. Like I said in my previous post, too much of anything can only hurt people.
      Yes, I am a digital native, though I am not the most extreme. I do, however, question the flaws and connotations, both negative and positive, that come with that title. Personally, I enjoy my technology, but I still am a bit "old-fashioned" for my generation (reading actual books instead of "e-books", making organic music, writing letters, writing in cursive, etc. How sad that this is now considered to be out dated or old...). These things have helped me keep my head above the water in the sea of technology that surrounds me, and I feel lucky that I got to experience and to possess this mindset. Otherwise, I think I might be drowning in this fast-paced technology/media-based industry.


-Kelsey

P.S.- 中國新年快樂! (Happy Chinese New Years, everyone!)