What Digital Natives Can Teach Us About Publishing

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First, I don't really believe in the idea of "digital natives."




Digital natives are the students entering college right now who have never experienced
life without the Internet. (See
more about the history of the term at Wikipedia.)



At UC, I'm teaching roomfuls of these so-called digital natives, and while I'm learning
A LOT from my experience, it's not because they're "better" than me when it comes
to digital technology (or life lived online vs. offline).



Yet my interactions have clarified a few things about the digital native mindset that
might be instructive for the print-focused writers/authors who automatically say,
"I don't have time for that" in reference social media—or who automatically equate
online/tech with time-wasting, or some lower value activity, or whatever is deemed
not-as-good-as WRITING A BOOK.




The
comments in this post—where I said to stop using social media if you really hate it—didn't
mean that success is found by ignoring the "distraction" of social media. My larger
point was that, if you have any imagination at all, I'm sure you can find something you
love to do that brings you closer to readers.

I tend to cringe when writers gasp, "Oh, finally!
I can focus on WRITING A BOOK."

Because writing, reading, and all the lovely things associated with literary
culture are not dependent on book form. (Read
this post for one of the best commentaries EVER on this issue.)



So here is what writers/authors might like to know about so-called "digital native"
mindset. (Note: Everyone needs to learn digital literacy skills. We are not born with
such skills, and this is why I'm not fond of the "digital native" label.)


Connection is highly valued. There's acceptance that what we experience online
is all within a shifting, hybrid environment. There's an understanding of the risks
associated with online identities, but also an instinct about handling paradoxes inherent
in online identity and self-expression.





Media neutral. There are many ways to access entertainment or information,
and the most valuable content doesn't have to be physically produced/available to
be worthy or credible.



Focused on passion. Many of my students feel free to completely ignore topics/subjects/lectures
they're not personally interested in. What they care about is doing stuff they love.
I've read articles that point out the younger generations are afraid they will end
up doing things in life they hate. While there's an entire book on this single bullet-point
alone, the larger message I hope print-focused authors/writers can take away is: As
long as you're doing what you love, does it matter if the expression takes a digital
or physical form? Or that a publisher rubber-stamps it?



I guess you could argue your passion might be specifically for the physical/print
form, but people fool themselves about that all the time. Growing up in a print
culture, we're inclined to think of print first, but digging deeper, we usually have
concerns that aren't tied to PRINT BOOKS, but tied to READING AND WRITING. (Again,
see this post!)





It will sound a little crass/business-y for me to say it, but realize that if you're
a writer focused on getting into print, you might not be as competitive against other
writers without the print hang-up—who can express their creative potential in other
dynamic and powerful ways, and sometimes reach more people doing so.






Photo credit: cole007

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