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Lecture explores technology, generation gap
February 24, 2011
Communication Department Chair David Domke spoke on Feb. 23 about the generation gap created by new technologies during his lecture, "You Say You Want a Revolution? Generational Change and Citizen Engagement." Domke said digital media are increasingly playing a role in political revolutions all over the world, but the greatest effects are seen in a growing gap between older generations and younger generations. He said technology is influencing how young people view the world and that it has become a critical link in how the world communicates.
The lecture was the second of the five-part series, “Storyteller Uprising: Narrative and Engagement Intelligence in the Digital Age,” at the University of Washington, presented by Seattle Arts & Lectures and the UW Master of Communication in Digital Media. The purpose of the five-part lecture series is to provide the latest snapshot of what matters most in communication and technology.
Domke introduced two generations that are apparent today: the dutiful and the relational. The dutiful are the baby boomers who grew up seeking security in life. The relational are those born in the ’80s and ’90s who have been seeking what Domke calls “epicness.”
He said the first moment of “epicness” for the relational generation happened in 2008 with the election of the first African American president, Barack Obama. This was their first moment of “epicness” because it was something that had never happened before.
He says the relational generation are tech savvy and a networking powerhouse, whereas the dutiful generation are not tech savvy and are more likely to join community groups like Kiwanis or the Eagles. Dutifuls see citizenship as doing formal acts such as voting, whereas relationals see citizenship as everyday acts like recycling and eating organic food.
Domke aimed to identify differences between the generations. For example, he said the relational generation sleep with their cell phones, whereas the dutiful generation would never think of sleeping with their phones.
Throughout the lecture, Domke pulled various quotes from Marshall McLuhan, a communication theorist, and touched upon how the things he said more than 50 years ago are suddenly becoming true. Quotes like “the medium is the message” ring true now because the emphasis is not on the content itself, but on the way that content is being delivered.
Domke hit upon a timeline of technologies that he said were important and he divided them into commercial or democratic technologies. A commercial technology is controlled and used mostly for profit, like radio or TV. A democratic technology is one that can be used to create and disseminate entirely by the masses, like photography or web content. Domke pointed out that we have always had these democratic technologies, but our senses were so overwhelmed by the controlling commercial devices, that we forgot that we, the masses, had the power to create our own content all along.
The final quote Domke pulled from McLuhan was the quote “we shape our tools and our tools shape us.” Domke said technology is shaping the younger generation more than originally thought. It is influencing how they view the world they live in. They no longer wait for the newspaper to arrive in the morning or the evening news to come on to get their news. They now get the news whenever they want; however they want.
The younger generation is craving an “epic” moment in their lives because unlike the generation that lived through the Vietnam War and Watergate, the relational generation has never had anything besides 9/11. The relational generation is seeking freedom from the privileged, affluent and secure society that the dutiful generation spent their entire lives building. They have redefined the meaning of being citizens in their communities. They know a little bit about everything. They are the millennial generation.
The SALu series continues on March 9. MCDM law professor Kraig Baker will present the latest on legal structures governing free expression, intellectual property, and privacy and how these are all changing in the age of digital and social media.
On March 23, MCDM Associate Director Scott Macklin will build upon the notion of story and explain how communities are at the heart of that crucial activity, based on his own groundbreaking filmwork and specific digital storytelling examples that convene community and give it voice.
Anita Verna Crofts, MCDM Associate Director, will conclude the series on April 6 by going global and looking at digital media, metrics and emerging markets — where some of the most developments are occurring.
All lectures are held from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in Kane Hall 210. Tickets and information: bkoemans@uw.edu
