The problem with ‘digital generation’:

A study of adult digital content creators

Tim Riley

Ravensbourne

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MeCCSA 2015

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Background

1. Terms such as ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001) and the ‘digital’ and

‘net generation’ (Tapscott, 1999; 2008) appear too simplistic and ignore

the diversity of all internet users.

1. People of all ages are introduced to digital technology in different ways,

at different times and by different means – irrespective of age.

1. There is still an interdependence and convergence of both analogue and

digital technologies.

2. There was no ‘year zero’ when digital technology ‘appeared’.

Context

Quantel Paintbox

Back in 1983

The ‘Digital Generation’

Generational polemicists

• Marc Prensky: “digital natives” v “digital immigrants”

• Don Tapscott: “net generation/N-Geners” v “baby boomers/generation

x” or - “television generation”

• Don Tapscott argues that the internet has enabled the ‘net generation’

to, “enhanced their intelligence” (Tapscott, 2009:30).

Robin Fox calls this “ethnographic dazzle” where “difference overwhelms

the equal fact of consistent central patterns”. www.csicop.org/si/show/human_nature_project

The ‘Digital Generation’

The Mail Online 9th April 2012 The Guardian 7th August 2015

Is there a ‘Digital Generation’ ?

Siva Vaidhyanathan

Not all young people are “tech-savvy” and talk of a “digital generation” or

people who are “born digital” wilfully ignores the vast range of skills,

knowledge, and experience of many segments of society (2008).

Generational Theory

Karl Mannheim’s generational theory

Generation location; generation as actuality; and generation unit, which express the

different components of a generation.

“[T]hose groups within the same actual generation which work up the material of their

common experiences in different specific ways constitute different generational units”

(1952 [1928]:314).

Generational consciousness within a generation is not necessarily homogeneous or

coherent, as there will be divergent views and practices within any group.

He also believed that as the pace of social change accelerates, the boundaries

between generations are likely to become blurred.

David Buckingham

The notion of a digital generation – a generation defined through its

relationship with a particular technology or medium – clearly runs the risk

of attributing an all-powerful role to technology.” Technology “needs to be

seen in the context of other social, economic and political developments

(2006:11).

To a greater or lesser extent, technological change affects us all, adults

included. Yet the consequences of technology depends crucially on how

we use technology and what we use it for, and these things are subjected

to a considerable degree of social variation within age groups as between

them (2006:11).

Is there a ‘Digital Generation’ ?

Digital content creation and sharing in adults

Focus of research

Unloading Self-created Content to Any Website & Shared

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Source: Office for National Statistics – Internet Access 2012 UK Households and Individuals (2013)

Definition

Content creation in the context of this research defined as:

An arrangement of visual and/or audio material that requires

some element of composition or editing that has been

created outside of a professional framework.

Digital text is not included in this definition, other than its association to the visual and/or audio content.

The inclusion of digital text would make analysis of content too broad.

Methodology

Age bands of this study

18–28, 40–50, +65 (retired)

Sample

36 participants

already participating in the practices of content creation, distribution and sharing online as a

form of vernacular creativity.

Qualitative methods

Interviews: face-to-face, semi-structured, open-ended and conversational

(2 conducted via Skype)

Methodology

• Participants were not viewed as members of a pre-defined

generation, but as individuals within an age range.

• Generational preconceptions were suspended in favour of an

approach linked to:

• the modes of communication and technologies available and

familiar to them during their life.

• To their own personal circumstances and backgrounds.

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My research

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Research findings

http://phdcontentcreation.wordpress.com

Content Creation and Sharing

www.youtube.com/user/geriatric1927

Content Creation and Sharing

Geriatric1927

First video – August 4th 2006

Final video on 12th February 2014

45,697 subscribers

9,343,755 video views

434 videos

Peter passed away on 23rd March 2014.

His last video has been viewed over 50,000 times.

Content Creation and Sharing

A nuanced set of conclusions:

1. Life stage related

2. Commonalities

Research findings

+65

• All were involved in some form of post-retirement re-education.

• For several, learning the transfer from analogue to digital technology or

adopting digital was a gradual and necessary requirement for them to

pursue their hobbies.

• Digital photography was a gateway technology. Introduced them to image

manipulation software.

• For some, introduction to the digital domain was an unintended

consequence of education, where introduction to digital technology or

software was necessary for successful completion and progression.

• Displayed neither a model of tech-savvy ‘silver surfer’ or ‘digital dismissive’

Research findings

+65

Research findings

40–50

• Digital technology had been gradually introduced into many participant’s

lives with a comparatively lengthy transition period from analogue to digital.

• Resulted in an almost unconscious domestication of both technologies.

• Many learned to use digital technology in the workplace where they were

introduced to the internet.

• Experience of both digital and analogue domains helped them evaluate,

assess, accept or reject the values and workings of digital culture.

• ‘a double edged sword’

• Some experienced feelings of anxiety from the seeming enormity of people,

content and information on the internet.

• Some developed negative views of digital culture and ambivalence towards

certain digital tools.

Research findings

18-28

• Varying levels of computer education and accessibility exist in secondary

schools, which has both helped and hampered development of learning

digital technology and to use computers.

• Adopting learning by trial and error was the most common way for the

participants in this age range to learn technology. This includes participants

who struggled with or were apathetic to technology and the internet at

school.

• Several considered growing up during the transitional period of change from

analogue to digital had given them greater understanding of digital

technology.

Research findings

Commonalities

1. Several participants from all age ranges expressed that they possessed

‘natural’ abilities to adopt digital technologies.

2. Participants with perceived lack of aptitude or skills for digital technology

persevered, sometimes at a rudimentary level, because they were

motivated to communicate and express themselves creatively.

3. Several participants from all age ranges expressed that they were initially

timid, sceptical or disinterested with the affordances of digital technology,

particularly in the 18–28 age range.

4. Adept at integrating digital and analogue technology (digilogues).

Research findings

Commonalities

6. Practice of digital content creation was not necessarily technologically

driven.

7. Motivation to create and share content was the intrinsic desire for creative

self-expression.

8. Using digital technology was an enabler for a broader scope of affiliation

with others and for receiving recognition and feedback.

9. Sharing self-created content online fulfilled participants’ need for validation

and feedback of their content, and helped build confidence in their abilities.

• Particularly those who were physically isolated or socially ostracised.

Research findings

Provides an alternative to the over-simplistic and sometimes polemical

perception that the ‘digital generation’ are more digitally adept and literate than

other internet users.

• While age and life stage are important, strict generalisations of generational

groups are problematic.

• In many cases, adopting digital technologies acted as enablers in facilitating

the unlocking of suppressed behaviour and creative aspiration across the

age spectrum.

• Greater emphasis on digital literacy for all age ranges.

Conclusion

tim@timrileydigital.com

@timfrantic

Thank you