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Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

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Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#11

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

delinka wrote: post #2

I am a digital native. I grew up with a computer. I obtained digital connectivity through acquaintances and friends. I got "online" before the Internet existed. I was on a team that wrote one of the first Internet-enabled fantasy sports websites. I've watched my peers (some younger, some older) re-invent the breakthroughs of the 1960s and 1970s and call it these reinventions "brand new." I am a digital native with de…

You are supposed to abandon logic before tossing "digital native" around, so I'm not sure you are using it in the same context as the article.

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#12

Post by walshemj »

delinka wrote: post #2

I am a digital native. I grew up with a computer. I obtained digital connectivity through acquaintances and friends. I got "online" before the Internet existed. I was on a team that wrote one of the first Internet-enabled fantasy sports websites. I've watched my peers (some younger, some older) re-invent the breakthroughs of the 1960s and 1970s and call it these reinventions "brand new." I am a digital native with de…

so do you think Bill Gates and Woz would qualify :-)

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#13

Post by jcadam »

I'm in my mid-30s, grew up tinkering/programming/etc., but I have to admit I just don't get social media. But then I'm not a very sociable person in general. My wife (not a techie), however, is all over facebook/pinterest/twitter/etc. doing God knows what while I'm coding all day.

How I learned of the existence of Pinterest:

Me: "Where did you say you posted that thing?"

Wife (annoyed): "Pinterest"

"Your what?"

"Pinterest"

"WTF is Pinterest?"

"Seriously?!"

edit: Pintrest, Pinterest, eh?

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#14

Post by rayiner »

The term "digital native" irks me for another reason, which is the presumption that younger people have a better understanding of technology than older people. Kids these days understand the Facebook and the Twitter, but they're deeply insulated from how computers actually work.

One thing my wife pointed out to me is that her teenaged siblings have a lot more trouble finding things on Google than she does, because they don't remember constructing search terms from back before Google got (relatively) good at parsing natural language.

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#15

Post by notacoward »

petercooper wrote: post #3

I didn't use that specific term because it sounds as stupid as "rockstar" or "ninja", but when I was hiring recently I only used Facebook ads (which you could target to specific genders or ages, if you wanted - I only targeted by location) and stressed that the job(s) required someone comfortable with the Internet, social media, and Internet culture (which, indeed, they do). I only got applications from people in the…

I'm sure you feel good about the people you hired, but how do you know that there wasn't someone even better who didn't apply because of the narrow targeting of your ad? If somebody posted their job ad only in the AARP newsletter, would you feel that it had been made available to twenty-somethings? After all, they could read it.

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#17

Post by davesque »

rayiner wrote: post #14

The term "digital native" irks me for another reason, which is the presumption that younger people have a better understanding of technology than older people. Kids these days understand the Facebook and the Twitter, but they're deeply insulated from how computers actually work. One thing my wife pointed out to me is that her teenaged siblings have a lot more trouble finding things on Google than she does, because th…

They know Facebook but they don't know pointers :).

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#18

Post by angli »

taprun wrote: post #4

The title is very misleading and an example of linkbait. It should be something like "Can Employers Request Traits That Older Folks Are Unlikely to Possess?"

Not really. Think what you will of the merits of the article, but it makes specific reference in the opening sentence to the fact that "digital native has been used to refer to a member of the younger generation weaned on the web and immersed in the language of digital technology," and the example it signifies is an employer ignoring older applicants because of their age rather than their skillsets.

I'm not sure how I feel about the issue, but it seems fairly appropriately titled and asking a narrow question. If I clicked on an article with the title you suggest, I'd expect a discussion of broader issues – manual labor's physical requirements as job criteria, for example.

Re: Is It OK for Employers to Seek Out ‘Digital Natives’?

#20

Post by MorningInfidel »

jcadam wrote: post #13

I'm in my mid-30s, grew up tinkering/programming/etc., but I have to admit I just don't get social media. But then I'm not a very sociable person in general. My wife (not a techie), however, is all over facebook/pinterest/twitter/etc. doing God knows what while I'm coding all day. How I learned of the existence of Pinterest: Me: "Where did you say you posted that thing?" Wife (annoyed): "Pinterest" "Your what?" "Pint…

You've just described my girlfriend and I with uncanny precision
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