Reflective Summary of Topic 1

The initial question we were tasked with:

“Explain the concept of digital “visitors” and “residents” drawing upon your reading and your own online experiences to date in support of the points that you make.”

After researching the topic and reviewing blogs from my peers I have come to the conclusion that the majority of people are not simply classified into two descriptions; “visitors” and “residents”. The world wide web is used actively, every day by millions of different people around the world, including people from different cultures, businesses, age groups and much more. These people will engage and connect with the internet at their own disposal depending on their requirements.

I believe White and Cornu have provided a good basis to categorise web user engagement however many users will use different online platforms to meet their individual needs. My friend Sam shared a video  where White adds a second axis bookended ‘personal’ and ‘institutional’ to the resident/visitor continuum. It was helpful to see how he mapped online activity through this method of categorisation, however I still do not believe one individual can be sorted into one category. Many of my peers used real-life examples to show how they spend their time online and how they use some sites as “residents” and some as “visitors”.

I enjoyed reading about Horrigan’s typologies and thought his categorisations were more detailed and relevant to a constantly changing environment. I think he puts forward a reasonable argument but I still believe there is a whole range of user engagement still unexplored which is determined by a variety of factors including age, locations, accessibility, reasons for motivation, etc.

My friend Anna highlighted that we, as a young generation, are constantly surrounded by emerging technologies so we’ve had no other choice but to comply and learn to speak a fluent digital language. This suggests that we are indeed digital “natives”. I agree and believe new technologies and online media is an important aspect of our everyday lives. We now use the digital world more than ever to connect, share information, research, build our own identities and much more. If used effectively, these online platforms will be powerful tools to master. On the contrary, we must also consider that if the younger generation can control the digital world to their own advantages why should we think that the older generations aren’t capable. I strongly believe that anyone from any age can be digitally savvy in their own online engagement, it merely results from an understanding and practice.

I enjoyed reviewing and answering comments from other students. They gave me greater insight into the topic, altered my opinions further and sparked a few good debates!