Millennials and Digital Natives

Abstract

With the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991, the world began to change. Blogs started to pop up, the first search engines emerged, e-commerce sites and email services were established and, of course, the social networks and messaging services came into existence. Paired with the introduction of smartphones, the world would change for good. This technological revolution has transformed how people live, how they relate to one another, how they work, and even how they think and process information. Figure 2.1 summarizes some of the major technological inventions that have followed since the introduction of the World Wide Web and that have contributed to the characteristics of today’s youth—the Digital Natives.

These kids are different. They study, work, write, and interact with each other in ways that are very different from the ways that you did growing up.

Palfrey & Gasser, 2008