The Perks of Being a Digital Native

            As our society shifts and technology progresses, humans mirror these changes; our minds adapt to the new advancements. The question is, is this evolution of our minds positive or negative? While some specialists suggest that new technology has inhibited our ability to focus and shortened our attention spans in relation to a single activity (Carr), I believe that technology has simply eradicated the necessity for a long attention span by allowing information to be sorted quickly and conveniently.  Some also suggest that new advancements have hindered our social skills, I believe they have allowed for more friendships and easier communications.

            Because of the ease of information sharing, people in the current digital age are able to learn more than any previous generation (Digital Minds). Although in-depth reading has been replaced by skimming, we are able to obtain more information in a shorter amount of time with the new process of gliding through pages and not focusing on every detail. It is easier for us to focus on the things that are relevant to our essay or research when we first scan the document for the general idea. No longer must we sort through copious amounts of books, encyclopedias, articles or other printed sources; now, we are able to simply search for a topic and then through the actual source to find only the information we need. This process is much quicker than that of the previous generations: finding a general book about the topic at hand, searching through the index for a related chapter, reading the whole chapter looking for the information and then finally narrowing the results to what is necessary for the assignment.  While these past generations were more skilled in the art of deep reading and focusing, now these skills are virtually unnecessary.

Not only can media be transmitted to the public easily, it can also be “converged” between different media platforms without much difficulty (Jenkins). This allows information to be seen by many more people in many more ways and also allows for more accessibility. While some think that this convenience has made the digital generation lazy, I believe it has allowed us more time to accomplish more important tasks than searching for videos or sitting and waiting to watch a show instead of just downloading it onto a phone.  Media convergence has assisted in the evolution of our minds in the new digital age.

            Another critical statement about the new digital culture is that people’s social skills have steadily declined with every new social media website. According to Small and Vorgan, “reading facial expressions during conversation” has become much more difficult and every time we use the computer, traditional face-to-face interaction time with other people drops. While these are troubling thoughts, the upside suggests that we have more knowledge about more people. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter have allowed us to get to know more people easier without the hassle of travel or planning.  Furthermore, much of the face-to-face interaction has been replaced by Skype calls or messaging, which are more convenient and less time-consuming. Conclusively, while there have been many downsides to advancements in the spectrum of social communication, the changes made have allowed for easier and quicker interactions.

One thing we can say for certain is that our brains have evolved. Whether positive or negative, changes have occurred in the way we perceive and analyze data.  According to studies done by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan, computers and technology have led to more usage of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain, which helps us “make decisions,” and  “integrate complex information,” and also controls our working memory (Small and Vorgan).  Technology has also caused us to be in a state of “continuous partial attention” (Small and Vorgan). However, this sensation has also allowed us to take in more information and although we do not process it completely, we have a greater span of knowledge than if technology had not come this far.

The changes that new-age technology have brought to our society have been criticized as making people stupid, promoting laziness, and tearing down strong relationships, however, these criticisms fail to see the positive side of the recent advancements in technology such as the ability to access more information in less time, view things on more devices, learn about more people and use different parts of our brain. Unlike our parents and grandparents, we can sift through websites and articles quickly without much effort in order to allow time for other activities that generate greater reward. Rather than criticize and fear new forms of technology, I suggest embracing and further developing our knowledge of them.