Don Tapscott’s book, Grown Up Digital, generally has a positive and supportive outlook on the future of the latest generation, the ‘Net Geners’. However, as an indicator of fair research, the author has also included a list of concerns and critiques of this generation ; one of them being that these ‘screenagers’ are addicted to the internet, have degrading social skills, and lack the time for activities that support a healthy lifestyle. It is suggested that the combination of these attributes have lead, or will lead to the emergence of an age group full of awkward, over-weight people.
In response to the degrading social skills argument, there are two sides to the story. I would agree that advancements in technology, specifically the convenience of internet and mobile phone based IM (instant messaging) has drastically changed the format of our interaction with each other. While many of us 'net geners' use abbreviated words in our text messaging or while chatting online, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's lowering the standard of our social skills. In fact, many adults, parents, and perhaps even a few grandparents have adapted to this style of communication because they have realized that it's not inappropriate and gets the message across in a highly efficient manner.
But most of the critics, [who happen to be adults that don't want to change their comfortable old ways], don't realize that advancements in online social networking have actually increased the social activity of this generation - not a day goes by where I don't receive an invite on Facebook to some kind of social event. I've had friends who were shy, and liked to keep to themselves turn into party animals thanks to the awesome power of online social networks. So I'm not at all concerned for the well-being of this generation because believe it or not, we actually end up spending most of our time 'hanging out'.
