Virtual Natives

1Virtual Is the New Digital

You may be familiar with the video of a one‐year‐old baby who, before she could talk, had figured out how to turn on an iPad and open her favorite pictures and apps. This isn't so unusual; since the iPhone's 2007 arrival and the iPad's launch in 2010, harried parents have become much more likely to hand their toddlers a smartphone or tablet as a distraction instead of a rattle or a set of jingling keys. So what does this baby do when she's given a magazine? She tries pressing on the images. They don't move. She turns the pages and tries swiping. No response. Puzzled, she tests her index finger on her thigh; is it pressing right? Is her finger working? After a few leg pokes, she decides that it is working and tries it on the magazine again – no luck! Now anxious, the baby begins to squeal. Why won't these images open? What is wrong with this paper thing, why won't it work the way it's supposed to?¹

Similarly, there are multiple videos out there of slightly older children, trying to swipe the screen of the television set to change the channel, and becoming equally frustrated when the device doesn't respond as they expect. These are Virtual Natives.

Virtual Natives (VNs) are the people who have known nothing their entire lives but fully digitized versions of what were originally analog activities. This experience is the foundation of not only how they perceive the world, but also how they are shaping it as they grow to reflect their own lived reality. ...