The Digital Natives don't think like us

At the airport, watching planes, having filled in endless T-Mobile forms to get wi-fi. Oh for a source of identity information to save me answering all these asinine questions.

The last session I saw at Web 2.0 was a panel discussion with a small group of 16 and 17 year old Californians.

They were confident. They were articulate. And they don't think like us.

I'd put the computer away, in preparation for leaving, so these notes are from memory. Ian was scribbling frantically, so he may post something more detailed.

It interested me that they believe they should not have to pay for things.

It interested me that (technically illegal) exchange of downloaded content is a norm.

It interested me that one spends something close to $100 every month on ring tones. Another said they pay for ring tones “because they have to”.

It reassured me that they were extremely dismissive of suggestions from the floor that their instant messaging client might take on ever more functions. “I don't want to watch tv in it; I'm there to talk to my friends”.

It fascinated me that they were very loyal to Myspace whilst at High School. But that they effectively dropped it (which they didn't have to) in order to build up a whole new social network within facebook once at college. Why not take the tool with you, and add new friends as required?

I was surprised that, asked how they might improve their IM client, not one of them asked for it to work across networks.

I found it bizarre that, asked where they would look to buy a digital camera online, the answers were mostly uncertain and pretty traditional (the site of a camera manufacturer!). So do the digital natives not feel comfortable shopping in their medium?

It pleased me greatly that they loathe online advertising. Given the worrying obsession with ads as the way to make money elsewhere in the conference, this is good news.

And it was quite stunning that they've never heard of Skype. Cellphones and IM clearly rule.

The world we are building is not being used the way we perhaps intended. Pandora's box is open, and we're not in control anymore.

Can we accept this, and adapt?

Can we build things that work for us, for them, and for our parents and their grandparents?

Could we have a similar session with a group of silver surfers?