Topic 1: Explain the concept of digital “visitors” and “residents” drawing upon your reading and your own online experiences to date in support of the points that you make.
“Visitors” are people who aren’t keen into bringing out their identity into digital space. The fear of identity theft and privacy leakage is an issue for them hence only go online at a certain period of time with a purpose in mind e.g. communicating through Skype due to maintaining long distance relationships or looking out for promotions in their inbox.
“Residents” in this generation see the web as a social platform, free for all to share information about themselves and things that are going on behind the scenes. Unlike “Visitors”, it’s a norm for them to spend time with others virtually, generating content, expressing their opinions and emotions that leads to relationships forming and widening.
After reading up about both categorised type of digital individuals, I find it true that Baby Boomers and Generation X people fall into the “Visitors” category (mostly our parents and current working generation as a whole). I’m sure that most of our parents are confused with the need to create a Facebook account to pictures on their lives however there are also some who would create an account just to play games like ‘Farmville’ and nothing else. Generation X people are more open to diversity and change hence i guess more “Visitors” will soon turn into “Residents” in the long run. Generation Y and Z lives in the digital age which consist of the current young adults being “Resident” digital users shaped by technology and equipped with the latest gadgets (iPhones and laptops) having the freedom of getting connected 24/7. People these days on the streets are constantly looking down on their phones. Stepping out of the house in turn seems unnecessary now because services like online banking and blog shopping is on a rise with convenience buying on the go.
My parents weren’t accepting towards Facebook initially due to their assumptions on the privacy risks involved however their perception has now changed and are constantly on Facebook to get latest info on news. However i feel that through the online experiences i had so far, young adults are actually still learning and adapting to the fast paced digital life because we didn’t really grow up with technology it was introduced to us at a later part of our young teenage years. Now I find myself constantly refreshing my feed on ‘Instagram’ or ‘Snapchat’ to get latest updates on people’s lives especially when I’m bored, I guess it became an habitual thing in the digital residence era.
Here’s my thoughts on this topic, what are yours?
Referencing :
Natalie Waterworth, 2013. Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z, and the Baby Boomers. Available at: http://www.talentedheads.com/2013/04/09/generation-confused/ [Accessed November 27, 2014].
White, D.S. & Cornu, A. Le, 2011. Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9). Available at: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049 [Accessed November 27, 2014].
Sherdale. G 
Hey Sherdale! Interesting post! I do agree my parents are really slow in learning when it comes to technology related skills. I have lost count how many times I’ve repeated certain basic steps when I taught them how to use Facebook and Google Maps. But i’m sure they will surely get the idea sooner or later! My mom is doing well with her Ipad/Google maps now 🙂
Honestly, even as a resident myself, I do want and have my privacy still. You mentioned what Digital Visitor feel about privacy leakage. I think it is your choice to post whatever you want on your web. Besides, i would say posting what you ate/ interesting places you visited are not privacy leakage. Unless you chose to tell netizens your whereabouts real time, like Foursquare, i would consider that to be an unnecessary act. If you know about Ask.fm, that would be an ultimate privacy leakage. That is why i would never create any accounts of that. What are your thoughts on that? Do you think visitors should change their view about privacy on digital technology as it actually impacts them positively and not negatively?
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Thats true! I have no idea why people would want to let everyone know where they are at in real time. It’s pretty dangerous…I’m not into that sorta thing too. I agree that visitors should change their views about it, information about yourself online can actually land you in a job.Thanks for your comment! (:
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Hi Sherdale,
Thanks for sharing such insightful information regarding the topic of digital visitors and residents. I particularly liked the part where you discussed about the different generations and their traits. I agree with how you segmented them as this seems to be the general trend observed.
My parents were skeptical to set up a Facebook account initially as well! Like your parents, they only did that when they realized how much information they could get through the platform (and bugged me to help double check their privacy settings). It’s interesting how they set their minds to not be involved with it, and end up being “forced” by the growing digital society.
Hence, since almost everyone is connected through the web, do you think that marketing companies should focus most of their resources online?
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Hey Jeanne thanks for your kind comment! Its funny how similar our parent’s impression of Facebook is.
Yeah, i think that companies should definitely start to focus their marketing strategies online like youtube. I realise that this strategy is increasingly common there and it actually works!
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Sherdale
I find your view of that Generation X digital “visitors” will soon turn into digital “residents” in the long run very interesting. Based on the 2011 publication “The Generation X Report”, generation X are the people who born between 1961 and 1981. They are highly educated and active, which results in higher flexibility and adaptability in the ever-changing environment than the baby boomers. Hence, I think that their online duration, online objective and online appearance will change overtime.
At the same time, I am truly amazed with how digital technology affects our life that we can get almost everything we need with the services provided online! However, privacy remains one of the biggest concerns in the digital environment. How did your parents change their perception on the privacy risks? How do you handle the safety of your ‘Instagram’ or ‘Snapchat’ account?
Daphne
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