After taking the quiz, I found myself to be a Digital Collaborator. According to Horrigan, this makes up 8% of the adult population, consisting of mainly men, in their late 30’s who are well-educated and well-off (Horrigan 6). As most of these statistics do not portray my identity, the description of a “Digital Collaborator” seems to sum up my perspective on my own technological interests, in part. The other part of my technological interests, in my opinions, places me under the category of a “Roving Node.” Horrigan states to “picture a Roving Node as a woman in her late 30s who is rarely without her smart phone, often using it to chat, but also checking email or fielding a text message (Horrigan 10). I do not fit in the age description, but sometimes in other aspects of my life, I feel like that age would better fit my outlet on life.
Getting back to being a Digital Collaborator, I truly do use ICTs to help connect with friends, coworkers, and family in various ways. As a manager of a restaurant, I use the Internet to create and display schedules, messages, and regulations which are used throughout many many people within the restaurant. I also am “heavily engaged with digital content – consuming it, but also sharing it with others and using it as a means for expression (Horrigan 27). I use social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to do many of these sharing thoughts, creations, and ideas.
On the Roving Node side of my technological outlook, I use my cellular device for many of my electronic needs. I mainly text and email on my phone and would be lost without these two basic applications I use so often. Since I am so reliant on all of my ICTs for retrieving information, as well communicating, “it is no surprise that Roving Nodes would find it hard to do without them (Horrigan 53).
Being a combination of these two profiles, I feel like I overall have a good sense of technology. At the same time, I understand those who do not grasp these technological advances and am always patient with them, striving to boost their knowledge and show them that it is okay to be semi-dependent to your ICTs. If we all were on the same page with technology and all it can bring to us, we would live in a very technologically-based world. Sometimes it is okay to take a break from all of the devices and dependency we all seem to have within some degree.
Does your restaurant use iPads yet? I’ve started to see those more and more when I go out, and I think it’s very interesting the possibilities for crossing work and personal lives in a single interface.
I found your blog entry to be incredibly interesting. I was characterized as a Roving Node, and I felt it accurately described me. At first, though, I really thought that Digital Collaborator better described me. There were many things about it that fit with my technology personality, especially in regards to the fact that Digital Collaborators watch TV on non-TV devices such as a laptop or iPad. Ultimately though, the fact that I do not use social media kept me from feeling like a DC. The demographics for the Roving Node were a bit off for me as well, as I am about a decade away from a woman in her late 30s. Although I do tend to identify more with a 36 year old woman than a 26 year old woman, so maybe it does actually fit!Like you, I rely heavily on text and email, both for work and for personal reasons, so I would be lost without my phone. Do you ever find that you’ve left your phone charging at home and immediately turn around to retrieve it, without even thinking twice about that decision? I am 100% that person! I thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Great job!