Digital native還是digital immigrant？

如果說我們所處的這個數字世界也有“原住民（native）”和“移民（immigrant）”之分的話，你是native還是immigrant呢？

Digital technology has been part of everyday life for many years now, so logically there's a whole generation of individuals for whom concepts such as the Internet and wireless technology are just humdrum, because they've never lived in a world where they didn't exist. These are the so-called digital natives, generally anyone born from 1980 onwards. Digital immigrants are their antithesis, being the folks born earlier who, either reluctantly or enthusiastically, have adapted to the digital world and incorporated its tools into their lives.

數字技術成為我們日常生活的一部分已經好多年了，所以從邏輯上來講，我們周圍有一代人從出生就已經習慣有互聯網和無線技術的陪伴，對他們來說，這些數字技術絲毫不稀奇。這一代就是我們所說的“數字原住民”，出生在上世紀80年代之后的都屬于這一代。與之相對的自然就是“數字移民”了，他們出生年代早于“數字原住民”，已經情愿或者不情愿地適應了這個數字世界，并且將各類數字工具運用到生活當中。

Predictably, the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants is controversial, not least because the digital universe currently inhabited by digital natives was in fact conceived and created by digital immigrants. It also makes assertions that may not be consistently valid, i.e. the idea that younger adults and children are always comfortable with technology, and that correspondingly older people are more likely to find technology awkward.

其實我們可以預想到，“數字原住民”和“數字移民”的界限是頗有爭議的，主要是因為“數字原住民”目前所在的這個數字世界其實是由“數字移民”勾劃并創建的。同時，那些認為年輕人和孩子通常都喜歡技術并且運用自如、而年長的人總覺得技術很難搞的觀點說的也并不一定是事實。

相關閱讀

數字鴻溝 digital gap

數字游民 digital nomad

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）

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