Demographics & Social Interaction Intensity

I was stunned the other day when I took a look at my son's friend wheel on Facebook and compared the density of the connections he has with those of my own.

Here's a side by side comparison:

I wish that we had both been on Facebook for the same amount of time because that would be more equitable comparison. But still, that being said, I think there are demographic traits (AKA being a Millenial Teen) that make the linkages in his cohort's  social interactions "more dense."

Adrian Chang,  a social interaction designer, says:

It's no surprise that many of today's youths exercise their social skills through social media technologies. They've got a kind of socio-technical competence that would make many of us look like complete hacks.

Now, I don't think us tail-end Boomers and Gen X'ers  are hacks but there is an almost innate quality to the way my son interacts and drives further social interactions with his peers.  Whereas the concepts of networking and and using social networking tools seem to be more of  "learned behaviors" to those of similar generational status to my own.

From the Virtual Generation:

As a new global survey of 18,000 youths commissioned by MTV and MSN has found, while today's youth are engrossed in a constant conversation, almost 40 per cent do not even notice the technology that enables it. This is despite a similar number saying that checking their mobiles is the first and last task of every day; two-thirds of them saying that checking who is online is their first priority whenever they boot up; and all of them using email or instant messaging every time they log in. They have skills that would have classified them as computer nerds a decade ago, but they don't regard themselves as technophiles. This is just their country.

I 100% concur with this finding.  My son thinks its a mystery that I can code. He doesn't get it, he thinks its cool, yet doesn't really care about it the way those of us who were in High Tech from early on.    He and his peers are the ultimate consumers of technology. They get it, they are immersed in it and they utilize it for utilization sake. Rarely do they  care about the plumbing that actually makes it work.

Again from the Virtual Generation:

[These kids are] digital natives, born sometime around 1992 - late generation Y "Millennials" who absorb the language of technology effortlessly with their fingertips. Their teachers say they are even more inculcated in the culture than classes just a few years ahead of them. By comparison, even the most computer-literate adult or parent will never lose the real-world accent, will never feel in emoticons, will forever be a digital immigrant.

I think Don Tapscott was the first to describe how today's Millenials are being shaped by technology in his 1998 book, Growing Up Digital. He contrasts the Web and then emerging forms of communications with the way TV shaped the Baby Boom generation:

But to today's media-literate kids, television's current methods are old-fashioned and clumsy. It is unidirectional, with the choice of programming and content resting in the hands of the few, and its product often dumbed-dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. To digital-savvy N-Geners, television should be interactive. It should do what the consumer asks. It should enable dialogue and allow for citizens to speak with one another.

Sound Familiar?

My son is a late generation Millenial and while this generation gets the language of technology and they don't understand the underlying grammar and syntax of technology... the plumbing as I referred to it above.  So the question is this, who will create the next generation of technology?  Its not enough to be native to it but you need to understand the language and syntax underlying it in order to evolve it.  This is where my language metaphor breaks down.  In natural language environments its enough to use the language in order to evolve it.  Understanding of syntax and grammar are implicit in  its usage.  Technology, while moving in this direction,  has not yet reached the point where the syntax, grammar and models are implicit in the technology itself.  Although, I think we are making strides here.

So back to the original premise of this post. Attributes that make my son's social interactions more dense.  In short (and thank you Don for the thinking on this).

1. He's grown up in a culture of interaction - online but has taken it offline as well
2. He's emotionally and intellectually open and curious
3. He's socially inclusive
4. He has an intense sense of curiosity and desire to innovate

There are more traits that you find in Millenials but these are the one's in my son that best fit this phenomena. But read Growing Up Digital for the complete story.