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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’?

#31

Post by beambot »

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…

I'm in the same boat. I blame it on karma; I spent a couple decades lambasting people for not knowing about BBS, IRC, email, www, etc.

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

#33

Post by davesque »

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…

Seconded. I've never really drunk the social media koolaid and I feel just as native as the next guy. Got started on a used 2400 baud modem in the early nineties when it was not easy to get connected to the internet, let alone browse the web. I feel like that grit's gotta be worth something. Of course, this is to say nothing of the people I know and respect who wrote their first programs on freaking punch cards.

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

#34

Post by CountSessine »

funkyy wrote: post #16

Is it OK for Employers to seek out employee they want? Yes, their business, their decision.

Is it OK for employers to discriminate based on criteria that the applicant can't reasonably change through education or training, like race or gender?

Is that the same as discriminating based on age?

Is 'digital native' HR-code for discriminating based on age?

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

#35

Post by TwiztidK »

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…

I'm in my early 20s and I'm in the same boat. Reddit/HN/Slashdot are the extent of my use of social media and a lot of my peers in college were the same. Hell, I know a handful of people who work at Facebook/Twitter/etc who didn't even have Facebook/Twitter/etc accounts when they were hired, some of them still don't.

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

#36

Post by SamReidHughes »

mentalbastille wrote: post #28
funkyy wrote: post #16

Is it OK for Employers to seek out employee they want? Yes, their business, their decision.

Unless they're discriminating against a protected class, which people over the age of 40 happen to be.

That just means it's illegal.

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

#37

Post by davesque »

raverbashing wrote: post #30
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…

Oh you don't get social media? You're using one right now.

This is a web page, sonny. Pretty much as simple as they were in '92.

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

#38

Post by Toast_ »

jldugger wrote: post #21

Digital natives do not exist in numbers you think. Fewer than 1 percent of entering freshmen have ever edited a wiki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hghekXykt-k&feature=youtu.be... EDIT: Totally misremembered, its more like 17 percent.

Why would that even be a metric?

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

#39

Post by smacktoward »

taprun wrote: post #6
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…

That's interesting! I would have predicted that "digital natives" would be the most likely to use ad blockers (thus not seeing the ads at all)...

No, people who use ad blockers are cranky old idealists who demand tiresome, expensive relics like "privacy" and "dignity."

Digital Natives™, having never lived in a world with those things, don't cause trouble over them.

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

#40

Post by chadgeidel »

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…

To your point about young people not actually having a better understanding of technology I really think the question should be "Should employers should seek out 'Logical/Rational natives'". It's frustrating to see folks (young and old alike - I don't think this is related to age or knowledge of tech) with a complete lack of critical thinking when using powerful search tools.

I incorrectly assume that more access to information implies a greater level of critical thinking. I think this is probably due to my engineering educational background - I'm not an engineer myself, but it was drummed into me at my engineering-heavy university.

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