41–50 of 106 posts
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…
Pint e rest, btw.
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.
Is it OK for Employers to seek out employee they want? Yes, their business, their decision.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Why not just say "digitally fluent", or something like that? Discriminating against someone based solely on the year they were born seems illegal(IANAL) and just plain wrong.
I've been on the Internet since '86, when my dad was at school at Purdue. I had a commodore 64, and 2 1541 drives. One was hacked by me for bootlegging.
I did the BBS'es but found them boring when compared to the 'net. I could also get into newsgroups which had a wealth of knowledge and the connections to talk to the greats of CompSci.
I remember when we got our first dialup service, back when there here dozens of ISPs, and when Windows didn't have an IP layer. I remember setting up my own FreeBSD server to handle networking and dialup mediation (was 13). I lucked in at an auction and got a SunSparc lunchbox. Crazy computer.
I obtained my amateur radio license, as well as learning about analog circuitry and tubes. That's old, even by the previous generation's standards. And yet, I now 3d print tube sockets for my 300+ collection of tubes. Hard to buy them these days, so I make them. Oh, and I'm also good at 3d design.
I saw the advent of Google, and how it overtook Yahoo, Altavista, Lycos, and other older search engines. I remember Napster, Kazaa, and others. I still have the first file ever bittorrented, porn. I remember when I heard about the Harvard social network, The Facebook. I knew it would kill MySpace, even then.
I'm 33. Am I too old for "Digital Native"?
Is it OK for Employers to seek out employee they want? Yes, their business, their decision.
Of course, one might claim by asking for "digital natives" one is not discriminating on the basis of age. But this feels like a rather disingenuous claim. Asking for computer skills is not discriminating on the basis of age, but asking that someone be "native" to an environment that did not exist when they were younger is. The older person might be very skilled with computers, but since they were not young when computers were prevalent they are not "native."
And yes, one might make an argument that this was not what they meant by the term "digital native", but it is a questionable enough argument that I would not want to rely on it in court. Not when there are terms that relate more directly to the skills concerned, which do not carry the same connotations of discrimination in this regard.
I started playing with computers in the late 70's. Got my first job working in video arcades in the early 80's. Got my webmaster job in '94. If my kids are digital natives, what does that make me?
edited for clarity
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
From Wikipedia
"Social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks." (Someone added "Web 2.0" later there but it's immaterial. Well, HN lets you vote without refreshing the page, I guess that's "Web 2.0")
The content is driven by users, either by creating (FB, Twitter) and/or curating it (Pinterest AND HN) -> Social Media