# Digital Immigrant vs Digital Native



## RaeMarieH (Feb 19, 2013)

Here's a site I like to share! Since some of us get confused about which generation were in because i remember a time without cellphones, before 9/11, bla bla bla NO. This is better at least in my opinion because each people in the generations are different. 

On Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives, offered by Zur Institute, LLC for Psychologists, MFTs, SWs, Nurses and Counselors

You can scroll down and read more if your interested 

Digital Immigrant is an individual who was born before the existence of digital technology and adopted it to some extent later in life.

They fall into these categories:

*Avoiders*: We have all met avoiders among the digital immigrants. They prefer a lifestyle that leaves them relatively technology-free or with minimal-technology. They tend to have landlines, no cell phone and no email account. They do not Tweet or Facebook, and what is highly illustrative for this group is that they do not see much value in these activities.

*Reluctant adopters* realize technology is a part of today's world and they try to engage with it, but it feels alien and unintuitive. This group is widely diverse and probably includes most of the digital immigrant group. While they may have a basic cell phone, they do not text if they can help it. They may use Google occasionally, do not have a Facebook account, check their emails intermittently and perhaps have surrendered to online banking. This group is defined more by its cautious and tentative attitude towards digital technology rather than by its willingness to use these technologies.

*Enthusiastic adopters* are the digital immigrants who have the potential to keep up with natives, due to their ease, capacity, and interest in using technology. They may be high-tech executives, programmers, businesspeople and others who embrace technology and immerse themselves in the Internet culture. This group sees the value of technology and does their best to make use of it. Some members of this group - very few - are of the Bill Gates variety, and have a knack for these things despite their status as digital immigrants. Members of this group text, use Skype, have and use a Facebook account (recognizing that this is the best way to interact with their kids in a favored medium and connect with old friends), check email regularly, and are excited about new gadgets and tech developments. They may also keep a blog, and they have a website if they are in business.

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Now for digital native is a person who was born during or after the general introduction of digital technologies and through interacting with digital technology from an early age.

They fall into one of these categories:

*Avoiders*: Some young people, even though they were born digital, do not feel an affinity for digital technologies and, unlike most of their peers, they are not enamored by Facebook, texting or mobile technologies. Members of this small group of digital natives use a cell phone (it's pretty much cripplingly impractical not to have one these days), but do not have an email, Facebook or Twitter account, and may not even have Internet access at home. They probably have an older phone and do not text.

*Minimalists* realize that technology is a part of today's world, and they try to engage with it minimally and only when they perceive it is necessary. They Google for information if they have to and purchase online only if they cannot do so in a local store. While they may have a Facebook account, they may check it only once a day or every couple of days. They will ask for directions to a friend's house instead of simply getting the address and looking it up on Google maps. If absolutely necessary, they will use Skype or a GPS system, but they are not eager to do so.

*Enthusiastic participants* ( *Which is what I am lol* ) make up most of the digital natives. This group has fun with technology! They enjoy and thrive on technology and gadgets. They interact on Facebook all day long, many of them Tweet, all of them are online in some capacity (YouTube, watching TV shows or movies online, Facebook, surfing, etc.) all day long or as much as possible. When they want to know something - such as a language translation, directions to a party, how to spell a word - the first thing they do is turn to Google. This group is harder to reach on the phone than via online methods and texting. They thrive on instant, fluid communication, and own a smartphone or iPad for constant access to the Web.


Younger members of this group prefer texting to emailing. Generally speaking, the younger generations are less and less prepared to write in a professional manner. This sets them up for digital divide clashes at home, school, the workplace and any other situation where digital immigrants set the tone. Enthusiastic participants include (but are not limited to) online gamers and those first in line to buy the new iPad, iPhone or i[next product]. All of them find technology fun, and enjoy the latest developments.

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And then theres:

*Tourists* These are the people who feel like visitors in the digital world. They pay attention to the 'local' or 'native' digital culture, learn its language, observe its rituals, and comprehend its complexities. This group keeps internal distance from technology even though they tend to use it appropriately and effectively, as needed, but not extensively. This is group stays internally non-digital in regard to preferences and values.


*Innovator Members* of this group are not only enthusiastic, they work with technology to improve it. These are game developers, programmers, engineers, technology writers, professors, and (gasp) hackers. While hackers do not improve technology for the rest of us, they are affecting it, not just using it. Innovators build websites, create applications and perform other online creation functions for their fellow innovators.


*Over-User or Addict* As the name indicates, digital addicts are heavily dependent on technology to occupy their time. Millions of young people all over the world are in this group - many of them gamers. When digital immigrants are in this group, it is usually for gaming or porn, though it can be for social networking also. Members of this group are extremely protective of their "right" to be online, and will become upset, irate and even violent if technology is not available. This group is what many parents, educators and managers accuse average digital natives of being, but this is a mistake. Addicts include those whose physical, mental, emotional, educational, or occupational aspects of their lives are significantly, negatively affected by their excessive use of digital technologies. Examples of people in this group are gamers who play for 18 hours a day, missing school, work and home life. Other members of this group include porn addicts who do not have sex with their spouses in favor of indulging this online addiction.




Yea..


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## LadyO.W.BernieBro (Sep 4, 2010)

l've shifted through different subgroups.

Had you asked me at 15 l would have been an innovator and enthusiastic adopter. As an adult, l'm a reluctant adopter-minimalist...started losing interest around 2010 and keep to the basics.

l guess l'm technically a cranky/jaded innovator-enthusiast.


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## Akuma (Dec 1, 2013)

Been through the different groups aswell, but now I'm more of a minimalist, since I've lost interest in most social networks. I've got the accounts I need and done.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

Well since I'm going to start an app company I'd say I'm in the innovator members group. Most people I know are minimalists that basically have cell phones to call and text and will use the internet to look some things up or occasionally go on Facebook. They also will use a GPS when necessary but for the most part, they're not super tied to technology.


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## CaptSwan (Mar 31, 2013)

I'd have to say I'm a minimalist... I can use basic technology; but, I find some "old-fashioned" things like making a phone call much more effective and immediate than sending text messages. Yet, I seem to have a knack for thinking of new ways of using current technology... I wonder why.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

digital immigrant. grew up with no computers, cell phones, etc. thought that huge, noisy calculators were pretty cool, lol.
learned how to type on a clunky manual typewriter.
definitely have a love-hate relationship with all things digital.
appreciate the convenience.
but stupid machines don't always function well.
sometimes, i am thrilled with the digital world.
love doing my blog, uploading artwork and photographs.
other times... ugh!
miss the old manual typewriter...
but they don't make ribbons anymore...
sigh...

edit: I am working at not turning into a raving Luddite, lol.


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## telepariah (Jun 20, 2011)

I guess I'm a minimalist. Even though I have several email addresses, participate in this and one or two other forums, and have finally started using text messaging on my phone, I also view these things as distractions in my life. I am not comfortable posting on our business facebook page because I don't know what is and is not appropriate, not that I would post anything creepy, but what is ok from both the business' perspective and also from our customers'. Fortunately, the kids who work for me are great at this and really enjoy it. So I just sit back and let them do it.

At one time I was a bit of an innovator. I wrote software, albeit in a much simpler time when all I was doing really was solving complex math problems for scientific research. DOS was the operating system and FORTRAN was the language. Sounds strange to say this today but at that time I was a bit of a mathmagician.

I am skilled in Photoshop, online training design, and video editing but I never do those things anymore.


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## athenian200 (Oct 13, 2008)

I don't completely fit into any of these categories... here's why.

I find technology and the Internet interesting in and of themselves, and I enjoy joining forums and learning about programming and such. I don't even mind using e-mail.

However, I don't own a cell phone, and I don't use Facebook. I find the fact that I'm increasingly expected to use these things frustrating.

The thing is, I want to keep my digital life separate from my "real" life, and I don't like the fact that they're being merged. I want to be able to face a potential employer, or get questions about school answered in person... I don't want to just be redirected to an automated system and expected to look things up for myself. Not when it concerns something important like school or employment. I also don't want to be distracted by a phone call, a text, or an e-mail from the digital world when I'm busy focusing on real life.

Basically, I don't like dealing with real-life stuff online. When I'm online, I want to relax and be anonymous, dealing with technological stuff and my online friends. I don't want to be using my real name a lot, dealing with my ignorant real-life family and associates, or try to do serious work and focus while on a computer. When I use a computer, I tend to just want to slack off and play around. I'm uncomfortable being expected to use it as a serious tool for real life.

I mean, I don't mind using Word as a typewriter replacement, and I don't mind using MapQuest or whatever to look up directions. Even buying stuff online occasionally is okay. But that's as far as I want it to go. I just want my real life to be my real life, and my online life to be my online life... I don't want it all mashed together in a confusing, unworkable mess.


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## CorrosiveThoughts (Dec 2, 2013)

The categories and their descriptions seem to cater more to social networking drones and those types in general than anyone else.
I hate to break it to anyone who thinks so, but spending time on Facebook or using an Apple product doesn't make one proficient with technology or "digital" in any way. It just means you've spend time on an interface designed with an average IQ of 60 in mind. 

Had the descriptions been more accurate and intelligent, I would have chosen a cross between Innovator and Over-user/Addict, but the current descriptions don't match me in the slightest.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

Well...um digital technology was around when I was born, so that automatically makes me Gen Y. Digital technology is something that is basically like alarm clocks and watches. There was even a pop song called Digital Display in like....83? 84?

However, there are Gen X people who use texting and the internet quite intuitively it seems.

The people who really seem to have a problem with it are closer to fifty.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

CorrosiveThoughts said:


> The categories and their descriptions seem to cater more to social networking drones and those types in general than anyone else.
> I hate to break it to anyone who thinks so, but spending time on Facebook or using an Apple product doesn't make one proficient with technology or "digital" in any way. It just means you've spend time on an interface designed with an average IQ of 60 in mind.
> 
> Had the descriptions been more accurate and intelligent, I would have chosen a cross between Innovator and Over-user/Addict, but the current descriptions don't match me in the slightest.


If the average IQ were sixty, people would not even be able to read. 80 is the cut off point for retardation and most people are within like 95 to 110.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

Yeah the first digital clocks and watches were mass marketed in 1970. Indoubitibly to the rich, urban and hip. Which makes 77 a good starting point for a more average person to have been born into a digital world.

I guess Personality Cafe got it right.


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## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

The first digital clocks and watches were terrible. My dad was fascinated by them. But they couldn't be seen in sunlight. My dad offered to give me one but I said, "No thank you." I still prefer analog, lol. But then, I am old (well, pre-old), and I was born into a mechanical world. Digital stuff isn't as much fun to take apart as mechanical stuff.



fourtines said:


> Yeah the first digital clocks and watches were mass marketed in 1970. Indoubitibly to the rich, urban and hip. Which makes 77 a good starting point for a more average person to have been born into a digital world.
> 
> I guess Personality Cafe got it right.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

walking tourist said:


> The first digital clocks and watches were terrible. My dad was fascinated by them. But they couldn't be seen in sunlight. My dad offered to give me one but I said, "No thank you." I still prefer analog, lol. But then, I am old (well, pre-old), and I was born into a mechanical world. Digital stuff isn't as much fun to take apart as mechanical stuff.


Aha. I am amused by mechanical stuff. I had a record player before kindergarten, my grandparents had one of those huge cabinet stereos from the 40s-70s who knows exactly when, but you may know what I mean. Made of wood, had a turn table and a radio under a cover, like a piano. The speakers were made of cloth. It was attractive and when closed looked like a fancy huge table against the wall.

My first watch was traditional, and I grew up knowing old people who were born in the teens and twenties of the last century and knew grandfather clocks and pocket watches. My grandfather had a personal clock that always had hands. My grandmother had a radio probably from the fifties or sixties that scared me.

But I knew digital. MY stereo was digital, my tv was digital eventually (the family tv from my formative years was like some 1972 two dial model), I remember digital watches being a big deal with people older than me in the 80s, like teenagers. Hotels always had digital clocks. My grandfather wanted to buy me a computer but I was scared of it.

Lol. Digital world, typing from an Android, playing Pandora.


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## tobrien5 (Mar 29, 2014)

I'm an immigrant moving from minimalist to enthusiastic adopter. My MBA Program uses a ton of online sources in google and the blackboard program.


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## Dustanddawnzone (Jul 13, 2014)

If you looked at my social media use, I would look like someone on the edge of avoidant and minimalist. If you, instead, look at how I augment myself with new online tools and the like I would instead appear as an enthusiasts. Though, I guess I can be quite like a tourist as well considering all the meme sites I lurk on.


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## Mrblack (Jul 9, 2017)

Dustanddawnzone said:


> If you looked at my social media use, I would look like someone on the edge of avoidant and minimalist.
> 
> I don’t wanna be rude but it’s quite strange a thread from 6 years ago suddenly got bumped in 2019?


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## jcal (Oct 31, 2013)

Dustanddawnzone said:


> If you looked at my social media use, I would look like someone on the edge of avoidant and minimalist. If you, instead, look at how I augment myself with new online tools and the like I would instead appear as an enthusiasts. Though, I guess I can be quite like a tourist as well considering all the meme sites I lurk on.





Mrblack said:


> I don’t wanna be rude but it’s quite strange a thread from 6 years ago suddenly got bumped in 2019?


I don't want to be rude but... Who gives a damn? I will never understand why there is always so much vitriol spewed about when someone resurrects an older thread. Yeah... many of the old posters are probably no longer around, but that's completely and utterly irrelevant. Their words are still there and can provide useful/interesting context for readers of the the new post that wouldn't be there if the poster started a new thread instead.


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## Whippit (Jun 15, 2012)

With most typology, I guess broadly these categories could be useful, but in the end everybody is an individual. I was ready for the 'Digital Revolution', in fact I rode it from the first wave, my dad bought the first home PCs available, I grew up with them and as a kid saved up to buy a modem to connect to the world, was chatting online before even AOL took off. The people who made the internet couldn't have been 'Digital Natives', but surely they get some kind of cred for making this world what it is beyond being tagged as an Enthusiast.


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## Dustanddawnzone (Jul 13, 2014)

> I don’t wanna be rude but it’s quite strange a thread from 6 years ago suddenly got bumped in 2019?


:laughing: , that I did. I was just going through the trees of suggested threads below the one I was on and commented on this one.


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