Digital Natives V/S Digital Immigrants- By Hameeta Kaur Malhotra

Digital Immigrants are those born prior to the age of internet; the people who grew up reading newspapers, playing board games and cards and watched the news and weather on television. Many Digital Immigrants still do so and are quite contented with their lives, often mixing “older” ways of doing things with newer digital technologies. It’s just that Digital Immigrants didn’t grow up in with today’s “always-on” technology. Digital Natives are defined as those born after the introduction of digital technology. In other words, they are “born into it.” In many parts of the world, Digital Natives are surrounded by technology, often from their early childhood, and their daily activities include learning and using digital technology. Digital Natives are savvy to smartphones, Facebook and other technology.

The Digital Immigrants also love new technology and can’t wait to get their hands on the newest gadget. And, just to be clear, not all Digital Immigrants are technologically impaired, just as not all Digital Natives are digital geniuses, nor do they all want to be. However both the generations are forced to meet, which commonly results in conflicting ideologies of digital technology.

But the question is who lacks the ‘Digital wisdom’? Digital Immigrants are unable to treat well the improved computers in offices and the complicated machinery. While the natives are seen addicted to gaming, texting, youtube and facebook.

It is a task of deep understanding of how natives think and process information. They are born in media saturated world. Natives are fast, innate with multitasking as in a student of this age; sitting in the class can listen to the lecture of the professor, jot down his notes and also text a friend with least diversion. They need instant gratification, frequent rewards and equipped with ‘Digital accent’.

While the Digital Immigrants however hard they try cannot match the language of natives, speed up instruction and engage in parallel process. They are always and in all ways labeled as ‘Old fashioned’. In order to edit an article, Digital Immigrant would take the print out and then follow the editing process. It may be a Herculean task for an immigrant to download a simple app on his/ her smartphone or to update an antivirus. Or the one who would take series of days to learn ‘to access the you tube’. A native would have been encountered by an immigrant to help him pay the e-bills, book an air ticket or being reprimanded of using internet too much.

Be it a Digital Native or a Digital Immigrant; they is a persistent and steady temptation to remain immersed in the gamut of Internet which is although useful and need of the hour but somehow consuming us and our lives.