Why Are You So...Old!?

            In the 1960s, a term was coined to explain differing opinions in politics, fashion, and music between the generations: “The Generation Gap.”¹

            Today’s generation gap isn’t as strongly fueled by culture itself but by the technologies that are shaping our culture, as well as our differing opinions about these technologies.

            There are currently two prevailing generations that interact most with technology both at home, school, and in the workplace: Generation X (born between the late 1960s and early 1980s)² and Generation Y (born roughly between the late 1970s and mid-1990s³; sometimes referred to as the ‘Net Generation’ or ‘iGeneration’). I could also include a third generation, the Baby-Boomers; however, their opinions of technology are generally similar to those of Generation X, so for the sake of simplicity and for the purposes of this blog, most references made to Generation X will likely also include Baby-Boomers.

            There are a variety of technology-based issues on which Generations X and Y disagrees, including: privacy issues; the etiquette of technology;  opinions of different interfaces (likely as a result of differing introductions to technology); and the overall importance and effects of technology on society.

            With constant backlash against changes made to privacy policies on social networking websites like Facebook, it’s no surprise to find that both Generations X and Y are concerned about privacy issues online.⁴ However, Generation Y is often less concerned about these issues than Generation X. Having grown up with technology affecting just about every aspect of their lives, Generation Y has become used to sharing a variety of aspects about their day on a variety of social networking sites, and consider it to be just another part of communication. They are living their whole lives online. Meanwhile, Generation X is more likely to withhold certain things, choosing only to share things they don’t consider to be “personal” (except in the sharing of family photos).⁵

             One area in which the generations seem to most strongly disagree is that of digital etiquette. While most of Generation Y would think nothing of texting while speaking to someone, Generation X would consider it to be remarkably rude. The majority of disagreements in what is appropriate and inappropriate seem to deal specifically with digital etiquette in the workplace. In a study conducted by LexisNexis, researchers found a variety of “discrepancies between generations on what the appropriate use of technology and software is…in the workplace.”⁶

            It appears that members of Generation Y don’t consider mobile phone use or the access of social networking sites to be distracting, while older generations tend to disagree and consider these things to be inappropriate in the workplace and may possibly have a detrimental effect on productivity.

I'm Worried I Might Break It!
             I have a theory of my own (if it’s been studied already, I’d love some links to read and would happily give credit where it’s due, but so far I have yet to find something that really discusses this) that, when combined with the fear that Generation X seems to feel when it comes to technological changes, could provide some explanation as to why they could have a sort of ‘mental lock’ that can prevent them from learning and using new technologies.
         Personal computers were relatively new when Generation X first started interacting with them. Most importantly, these computers did not have interfaces anything like the ones we use today. While Generation Y has grown up using operating systems like Windows or Mac; Generation X grew up using an earlier version of DOS. They were taught to code and not how to interface and interact with operating systems and software.