Response to Grown Up Digital
// September 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // media, online, social media, technology
I just recently finished reading Grown Up Digital, by Don Tapscott. I had come across the book on Hanson Hosein’s website (while reading up a little on UW professors). He has a “Must Read” page of his website which features this, as well as many other books concerning the internet and social media. I am so glad that I did take Hosein’s recommendation. Grown Up Digital is an excellent book.
Grown Up Digital is a book which details key factors that distinguish the Net Generation from all other generations. Tapscott advertises the book with a great video (seen above) in which he quotes several critics of the Net Generation. The quotes are of course, all negative. Tapscott goes on to say that he completed a $4 million research study focused on the Net Generation, and as far as he can tell, the critics are just making things up. As Tapscott writes in the end of his book, the critics are scared of something which they don’t understand. He later goes on to say that no generation has ever been very trusting or admiring of younger generations by the time are elders. He goes as far as to include evidence of similar feelings from ancient civilizations. I agree, it’s expected. But, as Tapscott says, generations need to look past differences and learn from each other if we are going to move forward.
Grown Up Digital for me, was a very different read than it will be for many of the people I have recommended it to. The best thing about the book for me is that I easily relate to Tapscott’s findings. I am after all, part of the Net Generation (11-30 years old by 2008). Tapscott writes that the most important factors which define the Net Generation are: freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation. As I read, I couldn’t agree more with what he had found.
The book covers everything from a summary of his findings to how to deal with the Net Generation as an employer, parent, marketer, or teacher. I found it very interesting that he was stressing how much people need to change their interactions with the Net Generation, as well as with future generations. I hadn’t really given it much thought until I read the book, but he’s right.
In the chapter to teachers, he tells them that things drastically need to change. Students are basically over stimulated and have access to nearly any information that they will ever need (within seconds). Teachers need to stop lecturing and need to start helping guide students through the learning process. It reminded me of a quote from Albert Einstein, “Never memorize something that you can look up.” It seems we may have gotten to this stage on a wider scale then he could have ever imagined.
Another section was for employers. This was something I could relate with entirely. Net Geners are fast, innovative, social, and need feedback. I witnessed these factors at work in both internships and in school. At my internship I worked much faster than my employer ever thought possible. I would have weeks worth of work done in a day, or, sometimes even five minutes (if it was a situation where a simple script could be applied). In school or work, I worked best if I got positive, or even negative feedback. I just needed to know which direction I was headed in. Turns out it’s a common trait of my generation. Next, something that is appearing all over the net more and more -- the need to be social. More and more employees want to balance work, family, and fun. We want family time just as much as fun time and work time. We don’t think there should be a set dividing line, and as long as things get done, balance is a good thing. This is most commonly seen with the increase in telecommuting for jobs or in studies where more and more people are found taking social breaks online or to collaborate with other employees. I have experienced this the most while in college. We had a particular class in which we worked in groups on jobs for local clients. We all took turns being project managers and in general things went smoothly. In fact, we worked so well together that we had to tell the professor that he needed to back off a little bit because he was giving us irrelevant orders or getting on us to do something one way, which we had already done more efficiently another way.
I couldn’t really relate with some of the section for parents. The one thing I could relate with is having families become more democratic then they used to be. My sister and I were always told to be “seen, not heard” by our parents, but that was never really an issue as they usually involved us in most of their visits with friends. Tapscott said that the parents of the Net Generation are less likely to allow children certain freedoms because they got in trouble when they were young as a result of too much freedom. This was not the case in my family. We were allowed to go outside, go to the neighbors’ houses, bike ride down the road, etc. I have, however, seen this in other families. My parents were strict where the needed to be, but otherwise, were pretty relaxed. We had video games and used the computer at a pretty young age, but we didn’t get into trouble. We understood boundaries. The thing I cannot at all relate with is moving back home. I can relate to feeling comfortable enough to do so, but I would much rather be self-sufficient.
Another point I related to easily was having a million things going on at once. The TV is usually always on, but I hardly ever watch it. The only time I really interrupt what I’m doing to watch the TV is if I hear an interesting headline on the news or a funny joke. I watch television shows, but on Hulu. Adium (a chat application with my 10 or so different accounts), is always open, I get my Facebook notifications from the menu bar on my Mac, I always have a ToDo list app somewhere, along with 10 different tabs in Firefox, an RSS reader updating and of course, Email. I usually read about 50 articles a day from various blogs, check YouTube or Vimeo videos that I find in articles, share articles on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and Delicious, as well as send personal updates a few times a day. Yet, with all of those interaction, I still get work done quickly and efficiently and I also know when to close it all out and focus solely on the project on hand.
Lastly, I was glad that he included information here and there about the benefits of video games. Yes, some people have an addiction, just as they can be addicted to the internet (or anything else for that matter), but in moderation, playing video games can be very beneficial. As Tapscott cited, there have been numerous studies which found that people who play video games develop a certain portion of their brain that otherwise wouldn’t get developed. Hand-eye coordination improves, but so does the ability to keep visually aware of multiple objects at once. Massive multiplayer online games can also help people develop management skills if they work with other players in teams.
There are upsides and downsides to all of the technology that my generation has grown up with. It seems to me that there are so many ways things can improve by using the technology which we all have access to nowadays. We can all learn from each other and network for a common goal easier than ever before in the history of the world. We can meet people of different races, religions, and age groups with the click of a mouse and a few entries a keyboard. All generations have much to learn from those that come before and after them. I hope everyone reads Grown Up Digital because it explains a lot and should help close a lot of gaps in all different situations: work, school, family-life, reaching out to a crowd, etc. Go grab a copy! 
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