Consider:

• The average teen in America texts nearly 1,500 times a month and 15,000/month is not unheard of (that’s 500 messages per day!).
• Kids under the age of 20 spend a total of 3 billion minutes on Facebook every DAY.
• The average teen now spends an average of six hours a day in front of a computer, TV or video game.

Screen-based stimulation has become the primary source of socialization and entertainment among teens and increasingly younger children. Just a generation ago, socialization occurred when a child was playing with friends, kicking a ball, or playing “house” (or if you go way back, I guess they played “cave”). Are we re-wiring an entire generation? And what does that mean for recruiting, managing, and retaining the workforce of the future?

The social media zombie?
An individual’s fundamental neural framework is nearly complete by the time they are 15 years old. Everything a child experiences forms neural pathways, and the most-used pathways become critical aspects of their personality and the foundation of how they interact as adults. Before the days of screen-based entertainment (most of human history!), the strongest pathways were naturally formed by intense socialization with family members and friends, physical activity and interacting with nature through play and work.

With so many children spending MOST of their time in front of keyboards and flashing screens, a new framework, “the social media brain” is emerging and it is not going to be all good.

A disregard for consequence
New research claims social network sites risk infantilizing the mid-21st century mind, leaving it characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize, and a shaky sense of identity. That does not sound like the model employee.

The author of the study said the rapid-fire reward of video games and text messaging could be a cause of the three-fold rise in Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) over the past 10 years and warned against “a marked preference for the here-and-now, where the immediacy of an experience trumps any regard for the consequences.” She says the behaviors exhibted toward digital media are similar to compulsive gambling, eating and addictions.

Hey, they’ll grow out of it, right? Wrong. The neural frameworks set-up by this incessant conditioning will determine behavior patterns into adulthood … and into the workplace.

What does this mean for companies?
All of this research points to a real challenge for business: many young people entering the workforce over the next 10 years may severely lack critical life skills such as an ability to interpret non-verbal behaviors, holding sustained conversations, and dealing with face-to-face conflict. How will the workplace adjust? I see it happening in several ways:

1) Companies will have to offer new levels of emotional intelligence training to new workers.

2) The work environment will conform to the new workers, creating jobs and work situations with constant stimuation, short bursts of work and a focus on individual contribution.

3) Universities will recognize the need for an emotional intelligence curriculum and differentiate their offerings based on this need.

There’s no going back. These are the realities of the new workplace. So as you think this through, what other business opportunities and challenges will occur as traditional company cultures collide with Generation Zombie? Do you see it already happening?

Tomorrow, noted organizational development authority Gil Crosby will offer his insights on this topic in a guest blog.

13 Comments

• 

  By Anonymous, August 10, 2009 @ 4:59 am

  Scary. That's all I can say. – SL
• 

  By Nick Gallimore, August 10, 2009 @ 8:09 am

  Well, I'm not sure I buy it.

  I'm not sure where you get your stats from but you could easily exchange "average teen" for "average person" – six hours in front of the TV isn't exclusive to kids…and they're hardly surrounded by an older generation of people exhibiting behaviour which is in some way "superior" in this regard.

  And as for "severely lacking crtical life skills such as an inability to interpet non-verbal bahviours" or "hold sustained conversations"…well that's nothing new either!

  I know a few teen who are far more socially competent than I was at their age – where that comes from I don't profess to know.

  Yes, the younger generation is different (although they're a product of the environment presented to them by their parents and schooling)and yes, business will have to learn how to keep these people engaged – and I'd suggest that calling them "Zombies" probably isn't the best place to start.
• 

  By MARK W. SCHAEFER, August 10, 2009 @ 12:55 pm

  Nick, thank you so much for taking the time to write. I agree the "zombie" thing might be a bit sensational. I was trying to find a way to cut through the clutter so people would pay attention to what I regard as a critical issue.

  Starting around the age of 13, most teens go through a period of moodiness and counter-dependence. And each generation has their own rebellious streak. So some will argue that a concern about the emerging generation is nothing new. EVERY older generation has had concerns about the next one! : )

  There is a sizable part of our teenage population that has missed its socialization window, or at least what we would consider "normal" socialization. What happens when that occurs? That is something the world has never seen that before.
• 

  By toots, August 10, 2009 @ 1:57 pm

  I think you're talking about two different things here–the ability to socialize in person, and the ability to focus on a task. One is heavily influenced by the onslaught of social media; the other is how folks are "hardwired." They really are two different things–worthy of two entries, perhaps.
• 

  By Celia, August 10, 2009 @ 2:02 pm

  Hmmm. I think I disagree. I'm 19, and am on the fringe of being part of the group you are speaking about.

  I had a computer and a TV growing up. And yes, I spent a lot of time on them (and probably had periods of spending more time on it than others), but I would NOT go as far as to say it lent to an attention-deficit or any sort of "zombie" behavior.

  You have to remember that, no matter what they do in their free time, kids go to school. From age 6 to age 18, school is basically forced socialization time. And for a lot of kids, getting home at the end of the day is a time to relax (watch tv, play on the computer), not see more of their friends. That's not to say they aren't socializing with them–remember, a computer and a phone do actually have communication purposes.

  Every child, no matter what generation you're talking about, has their own personality. Just as some kids sit in their room and read all day, others prefer to play sports, and others prefer to be on the computer. That's genetics, and that's not going to change.

  As for the workplace– I think we are better researchers and multi-taskers than any generation before us. We crave to get things done fast, and are often very good written communicators. We are able to understand innovative technology better than our superiors. It's a change, yes, but I don't think it's all bad.
• 

  By MARK W. SCHAEFER, August 10, 2009 @ 3:49 pm

  @toots — will have to think about that.

  @Celia. I'm so glad you disagreed! : ) Thank you for doing so in such an eloquent way! (applause)

  I think the most important point you make is that is wrong to put everybody in one category. For every person addicted to XBox, there is another hooked on sports or reading, etc.

  You also make an excellent point about the positive aspects of the tech-savvy next generation. Thanks!
• 

  By Jim LeBlanc, August 10, 2009 @ 5:35 pm

  My 15-year-old niece is constantly texting, doing Facebook, etc. It is almost like a nervous habit. She texts in movies, at dinner, while she is walking, talking and brushing her teeth.

  My nephew spends every spare minute playing video games over the Internet. He's wired out of really any other part of life. That's all he does.

  I have not thought about things in quite the way you have presented here, but I have certainly observed this … addiction .. is there any other word for it?? And i have wondered where it will all lead. I hope you're wrong.

  Every parent should read your article and at least think about the possibility of what is going on with their kids.
• 

  By Nitin Gupta, August 10, 2009 @ 5:48 pm

  Mark,

  You raise an important issue. We as a species nare spending more and more time now in front of the computer and television THAN out in the real world talking to and meeting with people.

  And I am not just talking about Generation Y or Z or whatever is the new catchphrase here. I don't even need to look around to give you an example: so many times I would be responding to my emails while I am driving or listening to the iphone in one ear and talking to another person through the other one (i didn't make this up).

  While we are all become more "efficient" and better at absorbing more and more information, we have to be cognizant of the risks and the behavioral challenges such activity can cause.

  And while I will not call everybody around zombies yet, the key is to strike a balance. All of us need to get out every now and then and smell the flowers.
• 

  By MARK W. SCHAEFER, August 10, 2009 @ 6:40 pm

  @ Jim — key is — will they grow out of this or carry it in to the workplace? Evidence points to the latter.

  @ Nitin — I think effective multi-tasking could be a benefit of this, as Celia mentioned, but you have taken it to a new level!!

  I think one of the ironies is that we hear it is "all about relationships" (and it always has been that way) but really we're entering an era of anti-social media : )
• 

  By Nitin Gupta, August 10, 2009 @ 9:07 pm

  Mark: it is not only me. Read about the changing customer behavior in the NY Times today

  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10morning.html
• 

  By MARK W. SCHAEFER, August 10, 2009 @ 9:31 pm

  That is really an impactful NYT article, Nitin. Thank you for sharing. I may reference it in a future blog article. Certainly a fascinating topic. There is no turning back, and there are some positives, but I can't help lamenting what we are giving up.
• 

  By fransgaard, August 13, 2009 @ 12:57 pm

  I think it extends beyond teens.

  I've noticed similar problems with myself (being an online professional/addict):

  When I was in high school I read "Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a difficult read as it is half English (which isn't my native language) and half Elvish (which is nobody's native language). But I completed it.

  In recent years I have tried to pick it up and read it again and I just can't… and please do take into account that I for the last decade have lived in London so my English is much better now.

  I've noticed other issues, which several friends and colleagues have recognised from their own lives: My spelling has gotten a lot worse.

  In school (in Denmark) my English spelling was much better than it is now. Why? Because when I type on screen (MS Word, Google, even now typing this post) I rely on the machine spell-checking and even completing words for me.

  I've caught myself increasingly just typing some letters of a word in a random fashion into Google when I search AND being rewarded with Google actually finding what I am looking for.

  I am worried about this, but it has become how I behave.

  One of these days I will pick up a pen and actually write a letter of sorts just to see if my hand can still cope with it :-)
• 

  By MARK W. SCHAEFER, August 13, 2009 @ 1:29 pm

  That is a very powerful and honest observation, Robert. Thank you.

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