Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives
The first generation of “Digital Natives”—children who were born into and raised in the digital world—are coming of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our politics, our culture, and even the shape of our family life will be forever transformed. But who are these Digital Natives? And what is the world they’re creating going to look like?\ In Born Digital, leading Internet and technology experts John Palfrey and Urs Gasser offer a sociological portrait of...
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Two leading experts explain the brave new world inhabited by “digital natives”-the first generation born and raised completely wired The Washington Post - Amanda Henry Born Digital doesn't pretend to have all the answers; the authors are knowledgeable but never pedantic, especially in areas where research is pending. While Palfrey and Gasser can leave you longing for grandiloquent generalizations, or at least a buzzword or two ("semiotic democracy" lacks sexiness), their studious, empathic approach is both valid and reassuring, and their overarching point—let's think about these things now, rather than trying to fix them later—well taken. Mixed with the broad consciousness-raising is specific advice for digitally challenged parents and teachers, on subjects from the judicious use of protective technology to the value of team-based, interactive (read: Wikipedia-esque) learning.
1 Identities 172 Dossiers 393 Privacy 534 Safety 835 Creators 1116 Pirates 1317 Quality 1558 Overload 1859 Aggressors 20910 Innovators 22311 Learners 23712 Activists 25513 Synthesis 273Acknowledgments 291Notes 295Glossary 345Selected Bibliography 353Index 365
\ Amanda HenryBorn Digital doesn't pretend to have all the answers; the authors are knowledgeable but never pedantic, especially in areas where research is pending. While Palfrey and Gasser can leave you longing for grandiloquent generalizations, or at least a buzzword or two ("semiotic democracy" lacks sexiness), their studious, empathic approach is both valid and reassuring, and their overarching point—let's think about these things now, rather than trying to fix them later—well taken. Mixed with the broad consciousness-raising is specific advice for digitally challenged parents and teachers, on subjects from the judicious use of protective technology to the value of team-based, interactive (read: Wikipedia-esque) learning.\ —The Washington Post\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyIn this critical but optimistic overview, academics Palfrey (of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society) and Gasser (of the Swiss U. of St. Gallen) share their concern about the legal and social ramifications of the Internet with regard to the generation of "Digital Natives" born after 1980. In a wide-ranging examination of "the future opportunities and challenges associated with the Internet as a social space," Palfrey and Gasser find most young people fail to recognize the vulnerability of their information-that internet posts are never really private-and suggest tactful parental and school oversight. They find a more serious problem in the failure of the U.S. to regulate data mining by search engines, which even now have the potential to create cradle-to-grave dossiers on individuals, including online medical and financial records; they compare the U.S. system with Europe's policies, which have put in place much more effective data protection. Parents and educators will benefit from Palfrey and Gasser's discussion of issues like safety, content control and illegal file sharing; with proper attention from them, the authors see a bright future for the Internet that should foster "global citizens" with a "spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship and caring for society at large." \ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.\ \ \ Library JournalPalfrey (law & executive director, Berkmam Ctr. for Internet & Society, Harvard Law Sch.) and Gasser (law & director, Research Ctr. for Information Law, Univ. of Saint Gallen) offer a concerned evaluation of the challenges facing the generation known as digital natives who have grown up immersed in the use of and dependence upon information technology. This book is significant in its prompting of readers to consider that these young men and women are charting new territory and facing challenges that are distinctly unique to their era. This book is a wake-up call and a how-to guide for being a parent or teacher in an era that defies easy understanding. The authors propose circuitous partnerships of digital natives with parents, teachers, mentors, trusted social utilities, and law enforcement that serve as a means to produce a shift in understanding of digital-era challenges, e.g., the potential daily threats it poses to our privacy, safety, identity, and innovation. Ultimately, the book is an accessible survey of many of these as-yet-unsolved Internet dilemmas of our time and is well executed given the immense task of synthesizing the vast corpus of social science concerns relating to the Internet. Recommended especially for public libraries.\ —Jim Hahn\ \ \
