This thread has been such a lulz! At 40yo, I realize that I must seem ancient to many of you. I'm equally aware that I may seem out of touch, inflexible, and ignorant but from my pov many people under the age of 35 seem rash, shallow, and belligerent. I think that difference has more to do with the simple gap in age and experience than our respective use and adoption of technology.
I am 100% digital immigrant. I'm not exactly on the bleeding edge of technology but neither am I incompetent. The first video game I ever played was Pong on an Atari system. I didn't get the allure then, and I still don't care for video games. I grew up with a single rotary phone. I think I was nearly 30 when I got my first personal cell phone. I've been on the internet with personal and business email addresses for about 15 years. Although I have a couple of social media accounts, I don't use them often. Again, I fail to see the value.
The differences between 'immigrants' and 'natives' is far more individualistic than assumed here. My 65 yo mother texts me (constantly) while I can barely get my 15 yo daughter to keep her cell phone turned on. My mother is on FB nearly every day but my daughter doesn't even have an account. Said daughter plays WoW with the grandfather of one of her classmates and her google-fu is legendary so she's not a technophobe. But, like me, she believes the technology, which she has had access to all her life, is a tool and not an end unto itself. My mother, on the other hand, is enamored of all things shiny, new, and with a touchscreen.
The major advantage, that I can see, between an immigrant and a native is the difference in worldliness and tolerance. My parents routinely identify people by their otherness. My daughter doesn't even think it necessary to mention that her Spanish teacher dresses in hijab. My parents' use of the English language is quaint and full of colloquialism from the regions of their childhoods. My daughter routinely mixes her English with Spanish and Japanese. She knows nearly as much about Asian cultures as she does American and Western Europe because of her access to that culture through the internet. THIS is the benefit that should be celebrated.