In episode 1, client Jesse questions his therapist on not having a Facebook page; interactions like this can only be understood in the context of digital age and its inhabitants.
For this purpose, we divide people into the categories of digital native (approximately gen x and younger) and digital immigrant (baby boomers and above.) Natives were born, more or less, into the digital era and "speak the language" of technology. Immigrants were thrust into the digital era and suddenly surrounded by gadgets and gadget-speak that seems (often) very foreign.
Ofer often talks about a comparison with going to London: One can move there, speak perfect English, and learn the customs - but at the end of the day, that person is still (and will always be) an immigrant.
Much of the work Ofer and I do around internet addiction and technology is as simple as helping baby boomers understand their children, students, clients and other young fellow citizens. To digital immigrants, the tech jargon and constant texting us young folks like can look like an abomination, irresponsible or worse. But to us, technology is like water for a fish.
You can learn more about our work on this subject with the free article linked to above - just click the title of this blog post :)
Experience on either end of this spectrum? Have you clashed with the other side of the digital divide? Feel free to chime in.
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