OPENING THE BOX : Exploring the presumptions about the 'Net Generation'

Abstract

There are many names or labels which refer to the generation growing up with digital media and these include labels such as ‘Net Generation’ (Tapscott, 1998), ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001), ‘cyberkids’ (Holloway, 2003) and ‘MySpacegeneration’ (Rosen, 2008). The core idea behind these labels is that young people who have grown up surrounded by digital technology are very different to previous generations in their way of using and even thinking about the new digital technology. This appears to be reinforcing a generational divide and makes the assumption that young people can be categorized into one group in relation to their use of ICTs. The approach in this thesis is to empirically explore, in order to nuance, some of these presumptions about the ‘Net Generation’ (defined according to Tapscott). Thus, the research question is: How can the presumptions about the ‘Net Generation’ be nuanced? The following three presumptions have been explored within the three papers included in the thesis: i) The ‘Net Generation’ diverges from previous generations in relation to the use of internet; ii) The ‘Net Generation’ is techno-savvy or digitally competent; iii) The digitally competent ‘Net Geners’ are also digital participants since there is a causal relationship between digital competence and digital participation. The explorations are conducted by using the theoretical concepts ‘digital skills’, ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘participatory culture’. Several hypotheses,deduced from previous research, have been tested on a national representative sample of people born between the years 1978 and 1997 (categorised as the ‘Net Generation’). The results show that ‘Net Geners’ internet usage is diversified;hence, it is simplified to talk about them as a homogeneous group. Those included in the categorisation have different opportunities to participate in the digital society. Their internet usage differs both in terms of how much time they spend and what they do online. Their digital skills and self-efficacy in the use of computers are also different and so is the perceived feeling of participation in the information society. This implies that the ‘Net Geners’ do not have equal conditions in relation to participation in the digital society. However, what is meant by participation is still an unresolved question which requires further exploration.

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