Generations and Technology
Before I
moved in the US I had never thought about the correlation between generations
and technology, and the differences between countries, and cultures. In
Romania, as all post-communist East European Counties, the silent generation
and baby boomers are not so much into technology because most of them cannot
afford to buy smart phones, or to pay for access to the internet. But, a very interesting phenomenon has happened
since Romania is part of the European Union (2007) and Romanians have the legal
right to work in other European countries: a lot of Romanians from different
generations migrated to west European countries. Thus, they need to communicate
more with their families. That why the internet usage has increased, and a lot
of parents have to learn how to use computers, internet and especially social
media websites in order to communicate with their kids or grandkids. Still,
the number of computers/ per capita is still one of the lowest from Europe.
In US
technology is more accessible to everyone just because it is not so expensive
to buy a smart phone, kindle or other kind of gadget. What I found to be really
interesting is that generations have similar characteristic and pattern
behaviors all over the world:
“As a group, Boomers [born in the 1940s and 50s] grew up at a time
when there were more kids than there were seats,” As a result, they had to
fight for opportunities and are likely to be very competitive, she explained.
By comparison, those from Generation X grew up watching
institutions fail, as their parents
divorced or got laid off. As a result, individuals from this generation are
“wonderful ‘options thinkers,’ ”, because they spend their time thinking “What
if something bad happened? What would I do?” They always have backup plans, she
said.
Millennials take full advantage of the digital resources they grew
up with, and their generation is most interested in social media and online
research. (Source: Global Millennial
Survey conducted by the company Telefonica). This survey gathered the opinions
of more than 12,000 adults ages 18-30 from 27 countries).
Doing
this research I learned though it is not necessarily about one generation using
technology more than another–it is that each generation values and uses
different types of technology for different purposes. What technology one
generation values as a productive work tool, another generation may have
another technology solution that works just as well.
1.
Adriana Scott , Millennials’ Comfort with Technology Key to
Company Growth, http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/diversity/articles/pages/millennials-comfort-with-technology-key-to-company-growth.aspx
2. Rebecca R. Hastings, Generations Bring Unique Perspectives to Work, http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/diversity/articles/pages/generations-bring-unique-perspectives-to-work.aspx
2. Rebecca R. Hastings, Generations Bring Unique Perspectives to Work, http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/diversity/articles/pages/generations-bring-unique-perspectives-to-work.aspx
