FUMSI Forum: Book Review: Dancing with Digital Natives...

Book Review: Dancing with Digital Natives: Staying in Step with the Generation that's Transforming the Way Business is Done

Edited by Michelle Manafy & Heidi Gautschi

?Dancing With Digital Natives takes us into the world of a generation of people, generally considered the millennial generation, who grew up immersed in digital technology. Like trying to explain any world, there is a lot to cover, and the book's editors Michelle Manafy and Heidi Gautschi tap into a creative style of presenting the ideas that draws the reader into a myriad of overlapping ideas and perspectives. With analysis from over twenty industry and academic experts, the book's many authors (which include the editors) move through various overarching subjects ? working, marketing, selling, entertaining and educating ? both describing the qualities of a digital native and reflecting on what we can both learn from and teach to this generation. The collaborative form of the book also reflects a recurring theme, which is that digital natives are collaborative and like to share information. Form following function continues with the flow of ideas being presented much like one would envision the way digital natives encounter information, a non-linear rotating swirl of information that must be processed and analyzed.

With this kaleidoscope of perspectives coming together, little jewels rise to the surface: office pods, coworking, virtual goods, bursty work, laptop lounges, community wine, social currency, cut-and-paste syndrome, a vinyl resurgence in France, reputation-based culture, sparking interest to explore further. Each chapter ends with a suggested reading list to encourage further exploration of the topics.

Many themes are reinforced from chapter to chapter. For instance, the notion that the structure of internet resists forms of hierarchy is reinforced over and over again in chapters discussing the popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games as well as a chapter explaining how bridging structural holes in a communications network gives people alternative perspectives and exclusive knowledge.

Other themes contradict each other leaving room for critical analysis. For example, some chapters laud digital natives ability to find information saying they are not prone to information overload because of their efficiency with technology. While other chapters in the education sections question the level of digital literacy and the lack of instruction digital natives receive when it comes to evaluating sources of information on the internet. Also, while it is agreed that digital natives are social, there are questions raised about where ethics fits into this proclivity to share everything, and that they may be a little naive when it comes to privacy concerns. Then in another chapter, the whole social notion is flipped around again when the concept of a social currency based on a reputation-based culture is introduced. In this culture, sharing information gives a person an economic value that they can use to as a currency to buy and sell goods and services.

Dancing With Digital Natives is alive with ideas and left me with the sense that this dance is just beginning and that there are a lot more exciting subjects to explore. Digital natives and digital immigrants (i.e. the rest of us) have a lot to learn from and share with each other as the world evolves.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, the book's co-editor, Michelle Manafy, is the Director of Content here at Free Pint, Limited.

Source: http://web.fumsi.com/forum/forum/read.php?i=36448&t=36448

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