Millennials and “Hyperconnectivity”
Posted On March 6, 2012
The Millennials are the connected generation. Statistics show them to be early adopters and avid users and consumers of all kinds of communication technology including texting, social networking, email, blogging, smartphones, etc. Now, the Pew Center is asking how all of that “hyperconnectivity” will affect the generation’s personality.
Pew surveyed over a thousand internet experts about the long term effect of hyperconnectivity on Millennials. 42% saw at least one significant downside: Millennials will be apt to make poorly informed decisions based on shallow or incorrect information the get from the internet or their connected peers. On the other hand, 55% believed Millennials would eventually hone their ability to sift the good from the bad in the digital world they live in – and will thus eventually be able to find better answers than older generations.
The study even coined an acronym for the apparent learning disability of the distracted, short-attention-span, hyperconnected Millennials: A.O.A.D.D. for “Always-On Attention Deficit Disorder.” However, several experts pointed out that this problem is not restricted to Millennials. Other generations are quickly becoming just as connected, and as distracted.