Digital Generation: 12.2 Hours Online Every Week
As I have been having many more extensive conversations on the digital divide between the various currently available generations, I’ve come across some great source material in the last few weeks. But most notably one article from TechWeb: Younger Generation Embracing Technology Like Never Before
Now, this is somethign that we in the technology world have been talking about profusely over the last year or so. But, as I mentioned in a recent post, this is something that many boomers are unaware of, and very important to lend a thought to. The most notable quote from the article being:
Gen Yers spend an average of 12.2 hours online every week, which is 28 percent longer than Gen Xers and almost twice as long as older Boomers, which range from 51 to 61 years old, Forrester said. Gen Yers are 50 percent more likely than Gen Xers to send instant messages, twice as likely to read blogs and three times as likely to use social networking sites.
What this basically means is that choices on communication, collaboration, and media are being taken online by the Digital Generation (as refered to here as Gen Y, can also be called Gen M, or the Hand-Me-Up generation).
The most important underlying fact here is that our generation uses the online world as a social space. Interacting with friends, consuming media, collaborating, and creating for reconsumption back into the internet.
How does this apply to management and work space decisions? When an entire generation is used to essentially “living” part of their waking lives online.
Are 9-5 workdays as important anymore? Should the office/school/home environment be adjusted to suit different collaboration and workflow styles? Should the current social software interface styles be more like those environments? How?
August 2nd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
buy a house, get married, and have some kids and find out.
August 2nd, 2006 at 5:00 pm
As more classrooms move towards becoming spaces where international collaboration happens, days extend out in time to where kids always are tuned in to the possibility of learning sopmething new. When my students were working with kids in Australia last year, the constantly complained about me absolutely needing to approve blog posts they may have posted at 10 or 11 at night because they had an audience that needed feeding. This drove me to change their blogs to an instantly live WordPress format where I did not stand between them and their audience. It makes me wonder about the possibilitites for education. Instead of required hours for being in a classroom, would it be possible to demonstrate a number of hours spent learning no matter when they occur? What about a system where hours are not important, but a demonstration of the learning is?
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:00 am
My problem is I’m having a generation-identity crisis (but not a gender one!). I’m too old to be a Gen X’r, too young to be a Boomer, and apalled by the thought of being called a “Tweener”. And I probably spend about 15 hours online a week that I should be doing something else with! I think there will be a big market for “computer addiction counseling” in the future. Hey… maybe I should invest in that!!