The most enduring change wrought by the digital revolution is neither the new business models nor the new search
algorithms, but rather the massive generation gap between those who were born digital and those who were not. The
first generation of �digital natives�-children who were born into and raised in the digital world-is now coming
of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our cultural life, even the shape of our
family life will be forever transformed. But who are these digital natives? How are they different from older generations,
and what is the world they�re creating going to look like? In Born Digital, leading Internet and technology experts
John Palfrey and Urs Gasser offer a sociological portrait of this exotic tribe of young people who can seem, even
to those merely a generation older, both extraordinarily sophisticated and strangely narrow. Based on original
research and advancing new theories, Born Digital explores a broad range of issues, from the highly philosophical
to the purely practical: What does identity mean for young people who have dozens of online profiles and avatars?
Should we worry about privacy issues? Or is privacy even a relevant value for digital natives? How does the concept
of safety translate into an increasingly virtual world? Is �stranger-danger� a real problem, or a red herring?
A smart, practical guide to a brave new world and its complex inhabitants, Born Digital will be essential reading
for parents, teachers, and the myriad of confused adults who want to understand the digital present-and shape the
digital future.