Marc Prensky (2001) coined the term ‘digital natives’ to describe a younger generation who were immersed in technology when entering education. Their understanding of and relationship with technology was assumed to differ from older ‘digital immigrants’. This was an appealing idea and gained much coverage. However, its claims did not withstand scrutiny, for example Bennett, Maton and Kervin (2008) found the technology skills of so-called digital natives were often limited and there was as much difference in technology use within generations as there was between them.

David White rephrased the idea more successfully as digital Residents and Visitors. This describes a range of online behaviours, and the same person can operate in Resident or Visitor mode for different tasks.

Visitors understand the web as akin to an untidy garden tool shed. They have defined a goal or task and go into the shed to select an appropriate tool which they use to attain their goal. Task over, the tool is returned to the shed. Residents, on the other hand, see the web as a place, perhaps like a park or a building in which there are clusters of friends and colleagues whom they can approach and with whom they can share information about their life and work. A proportion of their lives is actually lived out online.

(White and Le Cornu, 2011)

This description has proved more valuable, and it has been extended to explore the differences between personal and professional online behaviours (White and Le Cornu, 2017). For example, while at work, you may act as a Resident when using email, referring to it throughout the day, and using it as one of your primary communication tools. However, outside work you might use it as a Visitor, only opening it when necessary. In your personal life you might use Instagram as a Resident, frequently uploading images and connecting with others, while in your professional life you would treat it as a Visitor, rarely opening it.

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