The internet has come a long way since the early days of room-sized computers and huge processing units. What was at first used by scientists and librarians is now used by billions of users worldwide. But what do you look for once you’ve logged on?

The internet used to be a simple place, where you’d log on to get the news and check your email. But now there’s a choice of ways in which to access content. Whether it’s text, audio or audio-visual, your preference says more about you than you think.

According to international web consultant Marc Prensky, it seems that as a society we fall into two tribes: Digital natives and digital immigrants. Those who were aged 24 or under in 2004 fall into the former category, whilst those who were 24 or over in 2004 fall into the latter.

In nature, digital natives have a shorter attention span than immigrants, as they were brought up surrounded by the changing face of technology, whilst immigrants pay more attention to what’s on screen and have a tendency to print documents out.  You may not consider the relevance of this in business today, but this generation of users are the future. It won’t be too long until agencies are faced with digital natives as savvy marketing managers and CEOs, expecting to see sound and motion as an integral part of a digital marketing campaign.

“It won’t be too long until agencies are faced with digital natives as savvy marketing managers and CEOs, expecting to see sound and motion as an integral part of a digital marketing campaign.”

When you consider the popularity of YouTube, MySpace, Veoh and Dailymotion (not to mention Podcasts), it’s easy to agree that the future does indeed lie in the world of audio and video.  Almost everyone is getting in on the act, regardless of subject matter, creating motion picture portals to appeal to a wider and arguably younger crowd.

“When you consider the popularity of YouTube, MySpace, Veoh and Dailymotion (not to mention Podcasts), it’s easy to agree that the future does indeed lie in the world of audio and video.”

With the reinvention of traditional print media such as The Birmingham Post embracing an online audience and the rising amount of video content, the media is very much following suit.  In addition, journalists are increasingly demanding access to audio clips.  Digital natives have a desire to interact and this new form of content is conversational, inclusive and allows users to respond and access content in an easy to scan format. This is the key to successful digital communication. Our advice? It’s time to embrace video and look for ways to integrate it into your everyday life. 

Let us know if you’re already interacting with digital natives by leaving a comment.