Age And Digital Communication

Question 1

Boyle (2007) the young generation and digital communication

Answer 1

• with each successive generation there has been greater reliance on and usage of digital communication
  This has led to the ‘digital generation divide’ between the old who are less likely to use it, whereas the young who are more reliant on it
• digital technology took off in the 1990s, and people aged 50 plus were left behind by a ‘net generation’ whereby the younger generation were more inclined to surf the internet
• the net generation are now aged 30-40 years, and they spend a great deal of time on their smartphones, TV, and sending emails
• nowadays we have micro generation gaps, whereby young children might be influenced by the latest digital tools available in their formative stages of development e.g. digital communication tools to aid learning and development (e.g. duolingo)
• the iGeneration of the early to mid 2000 era spend a great deal of time texting on their phone rather than talking on the phone (blogging, uploading, networking)
• also be extended to music (younger gen more interested in pop whereas older gen are more interested in classical music)
• younger people are more likely to be users of digital communication as they use digital technology for their education (e.g. iPads) and have more free time and less responsibilities (so can spend more time online and on social media)

Question 2

‘Digital Natives’ by Prensky

Answer 2

Digital natives is a term that refers to young people who use the internet as it becomes a natural environment for then that they are fully integrated in

• young people feel a strong sense of community when online
• most are confident users on multiple devices on which they can multi task

Question 3

Gardner and Davis research: youth and digital social media

Answer 3

• youth are most frequent users on social media
• social media sites have replaced email and the phone as the preferred mode of interaction for teenagers

Young people are very careful in how they present themselves online in terms of public consumption, there are 3 presentations of the self to bear in mind:

1) Glammed up- present themselves as social attractive and desirable, their online identity might be more outgoing and extroverted than the offline everyday identity
2) Edgy- display traits they may not have in real life
3) identity performance - once the self has been constructed on a social network platform, the persona engages in identity performance, checking phones in order to manage online impressions e.g. updating their own profile and status

Question 4

Evaluation of youth and digital social media

Answer 4

(-) young people spend more time online than fostering real life relationships
Loss of friends, communication skills, depression?, out of touch with reality

(-) Twenge- evidence for rising levels of negative moods amongst young people (depressions) because of digital forms of communication
E.g. relative deprivation, body shaming

(-) Turkle - young people are too addicted and depending to online communication

(+) can help shy young people that find it hard to interact face to face to develop relationships

Question 5

Stars from OFCOM report (2014) in relation to age - adults

Answer 5

• 83% adults go online
• 98% of 16-34 year olds go online
• 16% of adults in 2012 used a tablet to go online, this grew to 30% in 2013

Question 6

Research on the elderly and digital forms of communication

Answer 6

• older people using the internet can benefit their self-esteem and identity
• older people feel less isolated able to face time relatives
• can improve their physical and mental well being, and their cognitive capacity

Question 7

Evaluation of age and digital forms of communication

Answer 7

1) in contrast, the older generation are now using digital forms of communication more frequently (they just needed time to develop skills for online use e.g. facebook

2) evidence has shown that now all age groups have access to digital forms of communication (e.g. prices of smartphones have lowered)

3) digital forms of communication can help all age groups to increase evidence in everyday life (e.g elderly use laptops for online shopping, youth are more inclined to use it for talking to friends)