Young People Are Not as Digitally Native as You Think

Everyone knows young people these days are born with smartphones in hand and will stay glued to the Internet from that time onward. Right? Well, not quite.

Actually, fewer than one-third of young people around the world are “digital natives,” according to a report and billed as the first comprehensive global look at the phenomenon. The study, conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the International Telecommunication Union, shows that only 30 percent of people ages 15 to 24 have spent at least five years actively using the Internet, the criterion used to define digital nativism. In many developed countries, more than 90 percent of young people are considered digital natives, with South Korea leading the way at 99.6 percent. But many developing countries lag far behind — all the way down to the Pacific island of Timor-Leste, where a mere 0.6 percent of 15- to-24-year-olds are digital natives.