I’m kind of astounded that there are still articles popping up which are astounded that Digital Natives can use a computer, and that that online communication could possibly be a translation of real-world communication. I mean, it’s only 2011.

I thought it was a while ago that we realised that online culture is simply a translation of the activities we do offline. The way we interact with social connections, public messages, private messages, ways to convey status (social check-ins, relationship status, flattering photos), and emotions (sure, emoticons aren’t perfect, but they do exist for a reason: to convey information which is traditionally non-verbal.) are all direct translations for the way we behave in the real world. The motivations are all the same: make friends. Be loved.

Admittedly, the most frequently used online systems don’t necessarily reflect this transition from online to real world perfectly, however, we work with what we have. Facebook, for example, provides updates to people publically across multiple networks, instead of select friend groups, which is how we interact in real life. (Check out @padday’s awesome The Real Life Social Network presentation which explores this.)* However, this is the medium which is very much the norm today in regards to relating to friends and family.

I read an article earlier today which discusses teens ‘using code‘ to express the way they feel online. It’s possible that this research is more layered that the article implied, however, to me it reads like the author didn’t realise that parents have been prying in the lives of their teens since the dawn of time. Facebook doesn’t change that. If teenagers didn’t write letters to their best friends in code, or talk around an issue on the family shared phone in years gone by, I’ll eat my hat. I think this research reflects that people communicate in the same ways that they always have across time. It’s seems to be yet another case of ‘because it’s on the internet, it’s new’. But communication is still communication, irrespective of medium.

Secondly, it seems that there an assumption that teens can’t navigate online spaces. It feels a little like the world operated on this assumption that Gen Y are stupid and superficial because these updates are publically available (as opposed to, perhaps, in one’s diary?) Sure, teens might me more comfortable having conversations in public than other generations, but studies have shown that teens are more aware of the things they put online and are more likely to self-censor than other groups**.

Yep, a new online way of communicating has developed, (using lolspeak and the like), but this is no different to the slang of other generations. Emoticons exist, to replace the non-verbal cues we usually receive when we communicate in person.

How can we judge a generation for posting comments about their personal lives in public and developing a language to suit the online environment we’re in, when our culture expects we be fluent in this form of communication?

It’s nothing new that teens hide information from their parents. It’s nothing new that they need to do this in a public sphere. It’s nothing new that they communicate with their friends.

It’s 2011. We’re not cyborgs. We’re not raised in factories. We still communicate with our friends and loved ones (and hide things from friends and loved ones ;)).

Or… did I just step out of a parallel universe and haven’t found my bearings yet?

Keep it real guys,

-Rach.

*Yes, we could set filters and sort friends into groups, but, I’ll admit, I can’t bring myself to go through my friends list and sort people mainly because I don’t want to humiliate myself with realising the number of people I have on my Facebook who I met once at a party and I stumbled away exclaiming “YES! I AM TOTALLY ON FACEBOOK! LET’S HANG OUT!” and still to this day have neither hung out with them, nor gleaned a solid recollection of them.

** I’ve totally read this but can’t find a reference right now. Let me know if you have one lying around!