The Demographics of the Digital Age

     The digital age, as we've come to know it, began in the 1980's with the rise of personal computing.  By the 1990's, the digitizing of data was widespread, making possible products such as CDs and MP3s, satellite TV and cameras that did not need film.  As the 20th century gave way to the 21st century, the internet became the new frontier of the digital age, and within a few years, it grew to an incredibly content-rich, interconnected platform from which one could access information about virtually any topic.  And the internet itself morphed, became Internet 2.0, an internet that allowed any user to add content.  What was once a tool to access information now became a place to post information.
     It's all happened within a time frame that syncs to a generation; the digital generation.  This generation begins with the group born in the early 1980's.  They're just approaching 30 now, and all they've ever known is digitally-delivered information. High school students, and those younger, are firmly of the digital age.  They cannot remember a time without computers.  And though certain digital technologies like cell phones or e-readers may have gained traction in their lifetimes, they are considered part of a natural technological evolution, not revolutionary products.
     The digital generation are sometimes referred to as digital natives.  They are native to the digital landscape.  It's the land they were born to, and it's terra firma for them.
     What about the older people, those born in the 1970's or 1960's, or even further back into the deeper recesses of the 20th century.  They are the analog generation.  They grew up with plenty of technology, but it was delivered in a different way.  Telephones were tethered.  Phonographs played vinyl records.  Televisions delivered fewer channels - far fewer - and reception was at times snowy at best.  When digitization shoved aside older systems and began to re-invent our technologies, the analog generation was often a bit slow to adopt newer technologies. But they have adapted, and regularly use a wide variety of digital technologies.  But learning to use smart phones, tablets, Facebook and navigate web sites is not native to them. They did not grow up with these systems.  There is an advantage to exposure at a very young age; it makes learning easier.  The analog generation does not have the advantage of early-age immersion.  They learned as adults.  They have come to the digital age, rather than being of it.  They are digital immigrants.  And like virtually all immigrants, they struggle with language, cultural traditions and historical references.  But like so many immigrants, they also work hard to assimilate.
     I've thought about the demographics of the digital age plenty because I'm made acutely aware of this generational divide daily in my job.  As someone who works with teachers and students on a wide variety of technology issues, I'm also reminded that over-generalizations about generational proclivities are easy to state, but harder to substantiate.  Exceptions abound.  There are students who say things like "I hate email because I don't every want to remember a password." and faculty who teach themselves to use Garageband because they love music. In fact, this whole question of a digital divide is one that has been carefully considered by many scholars of the digital age. Interested?  Do a Google Scholars search to read more deeply into the issue.
     I was born a few years before the 1980's.  I'm not a native.  But I don't quite think of myself as an immigrant either.  I propose a new category for digital demographers: naturalized citizen. This group not only wants to be conversant with digital technologies; we also seek to find the best of new technologies and use them as if we were natives.  Maybe it's just another example of an older person wanting to be young.  Or maybe it's a strategy to survive and thrive in a new era.