A presentation designed to show that it is quite possible to counter the naive view that the digital divide is age orientated.

1. Fear and Awe of the Digital Native Mark Weber, Atticmedia

2. Fear & Awe…

4. “ tech-savvy youth” “ a generation for whom media means MySpace, Flickr, YouTube” “ Generational Divide” “ a different generation all together….” “ My son consumes TV, mobile, online all at the same time…” “ my 5 year old has already mastered text messaging…” “ The Digital Generation”

5. “ The Biggest Generation Gap Since the Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll” “ … in the past ten years, a new set of values has sneaked in to take its place, erecting another barrier between young and old. And as it did in the fifties, the older generation has responded with a disgusted, dismissive squawk.” Emily Nussbaum, New York Magazine http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/

7. “ Internet has encroached on our role as a parent” “ Parents are left to fend off the dangers” “ networking websites ‘romanticising’ suicide” “ ignore copyright” “ Game obsession” “ Video games hurt brain development” (BBC) “ growing influence of the internet on education could damage children's ability to learn” (Guardian) “ Predators – children too naïve to know how to deal with them” “ lack basic numeracy & literacy” “ Unable to communicate in the real world” “ They are interested only in attention—and yet they have zero attention span,” “ They talk in illiterate instant messages” “ They have no sense of shame. They have no sense of privacy”

8. “ The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future ” Mark Bauerlein, Professor of English at Emory University Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2008.

10. Digital Natives

11. Overall Usage… Source: NIELSEN ONLINE REPORTS TOPLINE U.S. DATA FOR JULY 2008 74:53:32 74 10.11 16,672 65+ 83:21:58 78 23.09 38,065 55+ 91:10:50 76 26.59 43,849 35 - 49 65:50:47 54 12.32 20,309 25 - 34 27:22:34 23 7.74 12,755 18 - 24 32:21:34 26 10.66 17,579 12 - 17 13:51:05 12 8.97 14,799 2 - 11 64:58:01 56 51.82 85,443 Female 71:04:10 61 48.18 79,447 Male Average PC Time Spent per Month Sessions per Month Composition (%) Unique Audience (000) Demographic

12. Social Media Sites… Under 18s form just 16% of online communities Source: NEILSEN ONLINE, AUGUST 2007 (BASED ON HOME USE ONLY)

13. Social Media Sites…. 0 4 8 12 Linked-In Plaxo Friendster Facebook Hi-5 MySpace million aged 18- million aged 18+ Source: ImpactWise / Rapleaf May 2008

28. Understanding Digital & Young People