What is Digg?81 Comments
- benologist, on 05/19/2008, -2/+51Gen Y can demand whatever they want.... plenty of others who won't insist on using Twitter will be happy to take their job.
- Y0tsuya, on 05/19/2008, -2/+33Funny. I thought the company/boss sets the policy, not some greenhorn new-hire GenY.
- ShempRider, on 05/20/2008, -2/+26iF u WaNt 2 HiRe Me ChEck OuT My MySpAcE ProFiLe.
- nahsrocketeer75, on 05/19/2008, -1/+22FTA: "Generation Y is wired with all 10 fingers," says Jonathan Spira, CEO and chief analyst of consulting firm Basex, which published the report. ... Wouldn't that make them the all-thumbs generation?
- Zorn, on 05/20/2008, -2/+22As someone who lectures in the humanities/philosophy, my evaluation of the current generation of students is not positive. While academics will always complain about students, what has emerged over the last ten years gives me real concern. The access to information has not translated into effective critical thinking and the meaningful evaluation of academic, scholarly writing. Students have little or no argumentative skill, they describe rather than analyze; essays become little more than extended Wikipedia articles. It is a technocratic assumption that 'use' of technology translates into effective practice, particularly where it comes the reflective judgement necessary for study in the humanities and philosophy. Students don't assess or research information, they find it, and if they are not told how to find it, they don't bother looking. Consequently, they cannot understand why they fail essays. The amount of hand holding and spoon feeding in the universities today detracts from the value of a higher degree. There are multiple causes for this, but the use of digital technology is a factor in determining the expectations of how students relate to research. Their general lack of independent critical thinking, their inability to see beyond subjectivism and relativism indicates a profoundly narcissistic consumer mentality. They have little understanding that research involves assessment and judgement, that peer-reviewed sources are essential to the development of scholarly thinking and writing, and that reflection on process—which consumer technology effectively takes away—is vital for the development of intellectual and practical capacities. When I ask students why they needed Powerpoint for their seminar presentations, they don't have a answer. Or they say 'It makes it easier for the class'. When this is tested with the class, the answer is negative. The idea that you would test a proposition before assuming its truth value is an utterly foreign practice. It means you have to think for yourself, and find out. Technology delivers information, typically that someone else has collated. It encourages a consumer mentality of instant gratification.
Next semester, I'm baning technology in class. Students will have to present meaningful content, not dissolves and fades. - rwallen, on 05/19/2008, -6/+26About a year ago I showed up to an interview. The guy interviewing me asked me where my portfolio was. I told him I had emailed it to him but I could show him where it was online. He told me "we don't conduct business that way". I left and was hired by the next company waiting to interview me. The company that wouldn't look at online portfolios is now out of business by the way.
- ultraJesus, on 05/19/2008, -0/+17None of this will matter when the earth explodes.
- labboy, on 05/19/2008, -2/+18Hate to say it, but it's going to take most schools forever to catch on/accept this
- Geeshboy, on 05/19/2008, -5/+21I look forward to Gen-Y joining me in the workplace. I'm not threatened by them at all. Those who think that business is about texting and myspace have a harsh truth coming their way.
- piratearggghhh, on 05/19/2008, -0/+16Being a current user of all the technologies, I will say this - nothing beats face to face interaction. It's a pain to take a trip and lose a day or two but I find myself getting so much done. Afterward email is fine but I hope people don't forget the value of actual real life interaction.
- killbert24, on 05/19/2008, -0/+13I don't type with my thumbs except to hit the space bar.
- Typhoon2009, on 05/19/2008, -0/+12A lot of us do seem to be idiots who don't know how to do anything other than using facebook and text messaging.
- limezor2, on 05/19/2008, -0/+11Damnit couldn't we have a cool name for our/my generation? I die a little inside every time I hear "the YouTube generation" or "Gen Y".
- issachar, on 05/20/2008, -0/+11Ah yes, the article that comes out every month or so proclaiming that the old ways are finished and all must bow before the new generations ways or face extinction. It makes great copy, but it's the same old "new" story every time. With just about as much truth in it.
Of course businesses & schools must adapt to change. That's the way of the world. But the business world hasn't changed completely just because "Gen Y" is here. By and large success will come to those who work hard and use new technology to their advantage, *while recognizing that the new doesn't always mean better*. In other words, the successful Gen-Y types will be the ones that figure out that they need to work. Whining that the "tired enterprise apps aren't good enough" isn't working. It's just whining. - inactive, on 05/20/2008, -3/+12Must adapt? what type of nonesense is this? Are gen - whatever losers really so filled with your own false selfworth that you believe they should adapt to you? Lets be real here....with all the computers and websites we have now why are people less knolwedgable in the fields of science, math and biology in this country?
Businesses wont adapt to you! they will just hire someone else who works hard, doesnt bitch and come from a foreign country....Folks wake the ***** up! - bioplasm, on 05/20/2008, -1/+8You just repeated what people have been saying about every generation. I even bothered to search a historical newspaper database to support my claim. I found enumerable sources to cite. Here is an excerpt from The San Jose Mercury News published in 1909: "That college students are not experts in spelling or in the writing of English has come to be an old story. There have been complaints of their lack of skill from more than one institution of learning. Harvard professors have struggled with the problem, and awful examples of the ill-treatment of words have been reported in Evanston. Now we have a troublesome showing from Yale.”
- Phlosten, on 05/19/2008, -0/+7Exactly, when it is the boss paying your wage you do whatever he wants. I am connected 24/7, at work and at home. At work I don't see how people would get time to twitter/facebook/myspace while they are supposed to be doing a job. Lucky you to those who do have lots of time with a cooshy job, but not everyone is going to have this.
I am a teacher as well as an ordinary worker working in sales. I see a lot of Gen Y peoples that seem to think a lot around them just magically happens. There will be a lot of opportunity for those Gen Y's who can see beyond this and prove to me more valuable to a company. Connectivity is great, but getting the job done better is more valuable. - inactive, on 05/20/2008, -1/+7I received my Graduate degree in 1990.
I went back to school last year for a few classes and could not believe the amount of hand holding students received. Not too mention that 3/4s of the class was on Facebook for the entire lecture.
The amount of cheating blew my mind. After class or during break people would pass around flash drives copying each others lab work. At least when people cheated in the past they had to write it down so at the very least you had the benefit of learning from what you wrote instead of just copying data and pasting it in the right place.
I'm sure it will all work out fine in the end, it always does. This "next generation" pro and con crap hits the media every couple of years.
As far as surfing the net at work, that will only get controlled more and more. - limezor2, on 05/20/2008, -0/+5Yeah "baby boomer" isn't what I would like to be name either.
- Hangly, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5Unfortunately I think the harsh truth is coming our way. I work mainly with kids that age, and guess what. Millennials are second to none at communicating. They organize practically everything. MSN messenger has become an integral part of the way the office runs.
I tried to convert them to IRC but failed. - Goya, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5So I have my class write music with a piano and old fashioned staff paper. I take them to the lab to show them how to input and write using music software. With 7 minutes left of class I tell them to save their files to their directories. I turn around 30 seconds later and they are all playing hacked versions of line rider and various flash games...
I dont think generation Y is so different. - bdbr, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4Well at least your generation isn't named by the amount of procreation your parents' generate engaged in.
- Geeshboy, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4Yeah we are using the Microsoft Office Communicator IM client where I work. I agree that the previous generation has problems adopting this kind of technology. My point is although communication and technology are important, business is also about experience, patience and aptitude. It will take Gen-Y some time to build up competency.
- Hangly, on 05/19/2008, -1/+5I think most people are using the term "millennials." Gen-Y means nothing beyond "comes after Gen-X."
- bdbr, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4After years of working on online collaboration projects and in distributed workforce environments, I've come to agree with your assessment.
- bjornski, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4Many people already have a name for that generation, but it's not polite to say in public.
- doshindude, on 05/20/2008, -1/+5Stop using ***** dumb buzzwords. Gen Y/X/Q/E is the new "Web 2.0"
- rpebble, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4You could say that about any job, really. "I know more about this than you do, so i could break it to be a dick, and you wouldn't be able to fix it." Does that make you superior?
- prossi10, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3When I interned at Lockheed Martin, they had an enterprise wide messaging app, it was extremely useful, and let me get a quick bit of info from some or multiple people without setting up a meeting, call, conference call or walking half way around the building for a face to face, or worse yet, another one to two line email. It may not be all about texting and myspace, but its definitely about instantaneous communication with multiple people that doesnt require a Rolodex of extensions.
- NJank, on 05/20/2008, -1/+4try getting science or engineering students to research anything older than 1990. They will claim it doesn't exist, because there's no full text available online. or 1987 is as far back as the Index goes...
Only 5 years ago i had to wade through musty bound journals from the 1940's to look into the specifics of aluminum oxidation. it was manual reference spidering. it sucked and set off a dust allergy. But, it was there and needed to be done, I couldn't just ignore it and not get my job done. We're seeing a lot of materials work be recreated now with not much improvement over old results because people thinks its new stuff.
Kids gotta wake up and get their hands dirty when it's called for. - bobothn, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Does kinda make us sound whiny they why generation.
- cliffzdude, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Ahhh, no thumbs eh?
- giant.robot, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Gen-α
- Hangly, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Sturgeon's Law applies here.
- Skooma714, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3My thumbs are usually around a spacebar.
Which is most of the problem right there. - diggduggjoe, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Awesome? Seems anti-social to me. Technology is cool and all, but it is still nice to actual meet people and discuss stuff with them. The great thing about being with people is the discussion is more organic and moves in more dynamic fashion.
- inactive, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3U R HIRED!1!1
(sarcasm aside, I for one as a 30 year old professional would fire, consider firing or do something negative to any employee who writes like this. Bad grammar is not something to be proud of) - freebsdmike, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Once I had work in a place that used IM to communicate. I lasted about 1 month before I went crazy and quit. Being a programmer I hate being constantly interrupted while I'm trying to code. Literally every 15 to 30 minutes I'd get an IM with "Can I have a status report.". Which meant stop what I was doing and spend 10 to 15 min explaining what I had done and answer questions. Then on top of that I'd have people IMing me asking me help questions. To make matters worse we were all in about 10 feet of each other.
- isaactwito, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Yeah, I'm with rpebble. There are some actually really good public schools out there. It's sad that they are all thought of as horrible, maybe that's why people don't fund them.
- bdbr, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2For the record, online animosity pre-dates Digg. Probably a Gen-X thing, I expect. :-)
- bdbr, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2Spelling and writing skills are not the same as ability (or desire) to thoroughly research. All you've proven is that previous generations are never satisfied with the current one. Which is sort of funny, given the progress of civilization over the past century.
- inactive, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2most of us are whiny. Go into a high school or college class when a teacher assigns a project or test and gives details.
- rpebble, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Ah right, I forgot...we aren't *all* idiots.
- marx2k, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2yes... to bad
- rpebble, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2Some of the smartest people I've ever met went to public schools all their lives. Just because people can't afford to pay for the schools doesn't mean they lack some innate ability to think critically..although I don't think that's really what you're implying. I doubt "the state" would be able to orchestrate such a massive dumbing down of the populace through the schools.
Fun Fact: I'm related to a woman who has worked for many years in public and in private schools, and at least in this district, the public school teachers are paid about twice as much and require much more rigorous certification. You're paying for smaller classes or that religion seminar, not for superior instructors. - chrisduser, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2What comes after Gen-Z... Gen-AA?
- Y0tsuya, on 05/20/2008, -3/+5Problem with GenY is although they're comfortable with tech, it is because GenX made it so user-friendly. The whole script-kiddie phenomenon is symptomatic of this. It's like someone being pleased with himself being able to turn on the faucet and make water flow, but really have no idea why. But it is the plumber who built the plumbing system. Remember, GenX developed these technologies. And being the only ones who understand them (for now), we can break them at will just to mess with GenY's heads.
- jayscot, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2I can't see where too many Gen-Y have even left home yet let alone have jobs.
- Spoomeister, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2I can't be the only one who skimmed your overly long first paragraph, reading only the first and last sentences of it, and then your 2nd paragraph.
For someone who tries to teach critical thinking and analysis, your writing sure could use some work. - inactive, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1UVA.
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