Grown Up Digital

I’ve recently been reading a book called “Grown Up Digital” by Don Tapscott. Stealing a bit of text from his website, the book is about Generation Y, aka the Net Generation:

Poised to transform every social institution, the Net Generation is reshaping the form and functions of school, work, and even democracy. Simply put, the wave of youth, aged 12-30, the first truly global generation, is impacting all institutions. Particularly, employers, instructors, parents, marketers and political leaders are finding it necessary to adapt to the changing social fabric due to this generation’s unique characteristics. Within its comprehensive examination of the Net Generation, and based on a 4.5 million dollar study, Don Tapscott’s Grown Up Digital offers valuable insight and concrete takeaways for leaders across all social institutions.

I’m only halfway through so far, but I did want put it on your radar. I was born in 1972, and so am technically on the tail-end of Generation X. However, as I read the book I’m continually astounded at how well it describes me. To quote:

Gen X – now adults between the ages of 32 and 43 – are aggressive communicators who are extremely media-centered. They are the oldest segment of the population whose computer and Internet habits resemble those of Net Geners and provide the closest adult experience from which we can begin to predict how Net Geners will master the digital universe. Like Net Geners, Gen Xers view radio, TV, film, and the Internet as nonspecialist media, available for everyone’s use to package information and put forward their perspective.

What I’ve found fascinating is how many of the traits and interests that Net Geners (and I) hold apply to many of the new social and technological concepts we all experience today. Instant communication and community via Facebook, Twitter, Xbox LIVE, IM, text messages, and YouTube are all things we expect. And as we think about the future of gaming and online communities, it’s obvious that we have some significant changes coming down the pipe in the next decade or so. Just imagine Xbox LIVE if it was available anywhere and on any device you might wish? What if your cell phone contacts were your IM contacts were your PSN friends were your Facebook friends were your Xbox LIVE Friends? What does it mean when you don’t have to differentiate where a friend is, but you can just do something interesting with them?

There are also a lot of interesting data points about the positive value of gaming on Net Gener brain development. Here are a couple of the more interesting quotes:

“Although video game playing may seem to be rather mindless, it is capable of altering visual attentional processing,” Green and Bavelier concluded. In other words, people who play a lot of video games can track more objects than people who don’t. Second, they are better at monitoring a cluttered world; they can more quickly identify a target briefly presented in a field of clutter. And third, the experienced game players are better at processing a rapid stream of visual information.

and

[Gaming] can prove useful in the training of surgeons. Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive technique in which a camera and operating instruments are inserted in the body via miniscule incisions of about a centimeter. Laparoscopic surgeons conduct their operations only by seeing the images from a tiny internal camera. In a 2004 study, it was observed that younger doctors who were video game players being trained in laparoscopic techniques learned the skills more quickly and made fewer errors than did non-game-playing counterparts. In fact, the researchers found that a surgeon’s game-playing experience was a better predictor of his or future success at laparoscopic surgery than was years of experience!

Flipping ahead I see some really interesting chapters discussing the influence Net Geners can have via their social networks and the instantaneous feedback loops that being constantly connected can generate. I may or may not post some other interesting tidbits, but if you found any of this interesting, I’d highly recommend you check it out! (Straight Amazon link – I get nothing from them for it.)

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