As much as the new concept of visitors and residents seem convincing, I think it doesn't utterly obliterate the idea of digital natives coined by Marc Prensky (2001).

Truly, not all digital natives may be adept at the utility of online tools or be motivated to do so. And we sometimes switch our roles in the online world.

However, using language metaphor as an analogy, isn't it true that not all native language speakers are versatile in their first language when compared to some second language learners who have paid due diligence in immersing themselves in the new language? Should this then upend their designation as natives (of the language) into 'visitors and residents'?

Likewise, I think not all digital natives may be proficient with digital tech or the online world, but it's hard to disagree that these tools are intuitively enshrined in their daily lifestyle and they most times effortlessly utilise online tools as their first go-to leverage, whenever the opportunity arises.

The concept behind the coinage holds strong points, but the lexical wordings, ‘visitors and residents’, may not be tangible enough to substitute ‘natives’.

Therefore, I believe both White and Prensky have interesting postulations that could be wedded with convincing lexicology.