Lee Rainie and Homo Connectus

Lee Rainie, founding director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project is one of my favorite speakers.
Recently he outlined the 8 Realities of the Millennials, or Homo Connectus at the NFAIS conference last week.
Reality #1
Millennials are a distinct age cohort, according to many measures of generational behavior and attitude. They are ‘special’. Some words Lee used to decribe them: sheltered, the play date generation, confident, team-oriented, achievement oriented, pressured, trophy kids, conventional, technology embracing though not necessarily tech-savvy.
Reality #2
Millennials are immersed in a world of media and gadgets. Their homes are FILLED with gadgets. Lee said that the average home now has 26 (!!) information and communication tools. I laughed and then started counting what was around my home.
Reality #3
“If they can’t be with the device they love, they’ll love the one they’re with”
Discman, Walkman, cel phone, handheld game, MP3 player, Internet, laptop, PDA…
Their technology is mobile. He discussed the consequence of mobility as smart mobs and instant sharing. They share and act quickly.
Reality #4
The Internet plays a special role in their world. 1/3 download video; 1/2 download music; 1/3 create content; 20% blog; 75% IM. Of nearly all Internet activities only buying products, and searching for health and job information is done by Boomers more. They approach research as a self-directed process.
Reality #5
They are multi-taskers. They cram 8:33 hours of time spent with media into 6:21 hours. This covers TV, video, music, reading, radio, and using computers.
They practice “continuous partial attention”. This is not the same as multi-tasking. Some quotes: “Scanning to seize upon”, “foraging behaviors”, “the need for sanctuary”, need “contemplative space”, and maybe need occasional “technology sabbaths”.
Reality #6
“Millennials are often unaware or indifferent to the consequences of their use of technology. This is particularly interesting in the attitudes for downloadig music and video, and privacy. 19% remix in some manner. A new term “soft surveillance” and the role it might play for professors and employers. It’s an emerging issue.
Reality #7
Their own technology world will change radically in the next decade. This will be driven by:
– Computing power doubling every 18 months (Moore’s Law)
– Communication Power doubling every nine months (Gilder’s Law)
– Spectrum power increasing
– Storage Power doubling every 12 months.
These J-curve laws will change everthing (again). This applies in particular to content creation, connectedness, me media vs. mass media, better contextual search (like the semantic web), and advanced social search and networks and tagging.
Lee talked about a smart doorknob. (You had to be there.)
Reality #8
“The way they approach learning and research will be shaped by their new techno-world.” It will be:
– less top down
– more reliant on feedback and response
– more tags and personal taxonomies
– open and cross-disciplinary
– more focused on individual creation
Anyway, when you get a chance to hear Lee, do it.
Stephen