Generation Digital

At yesterday's gigundo family function (one of, oh, all of them), I spent much of the day with cousins Annamarie and Gabriele. And in the course of this one day, spent mostly poolside with relatives and friends demading time and attention, we still managed to check out the girls' Facebook profiles, MySpace accounts, Apple Quicktime multimedia presentations, and cell phone capabilities.

Now, my cousins are only 5 and 7 years younger than me, respectively. Yet I feel like they're lightyears ahead in understanding all the excitement and connectivity that online and digital social networking provides.

I know this digital inertia is a result of my own (very) late adoption habits--unusual for a Generation Y-er. After all, I'm supposed to be where it's at right now, correct? It's the multi-tasking 18- to 26-year-olds who are ruling new media, and prompting marketers to clamor for their network savvy.

And then there's me huddled in the dark corner with my chisel and rock slab, tap-tap-tapping my way into technological obscurity.

The good news: I'm upgrading to papyrus next month.