Wow – I think the authors’ approach of describing online engagement in terms of visitors and residents is both novel and accurate. The difference between the internet of the late 1990s and that of the early 2000s is stark, and this transition has no doubt transformed user engagement at all levels. This was a change that didn’t strike me as super obvious prior to reading the article. I think the reason for that is up until ~2002 or so, my household only had dial-up internet access which more or less restricted me from becoming a serious online user. By the time I had regular internet access, the shift towards social media and online personas was well underway. I can certainly see how Prensky’s model of natives / nomads has become outdated as our use of the web has shifted from strictly information-seeking to persona creation and community participation.

Wonder – One thing that did stick out to me in reading the article was how users may have different approaches to the web depending on the context. Someone may take a resident approach in a special interest group / private group and then take a visitor approach in another professional context. This sounds great, however, it assumes distinct boundaries between the contexts such that the individual is able to seamlessly switch between roles. The article does touch on the challenges that can occur when these boundaries are blurred, however only briefly. What happens when these boundaries completely break down – particularly when your personal context becomes fully visible to your professional context (i.e. employer)? I think we are all well aware of people getting reprimanded / fired for non-work-related behaviour online. This is one reason why I would place myself as much more of a visitor than a resident in many of my online accounts. You can see from my map that LinkedIn is really the only app that I am somewhat active on – only in the sense that I have many connections and created a social web that way. Facebook, YouTube, even Gmail – I’m a bit more of a lurker, only participating in the community when I am seeking information towards a goal.

Here is my map:

White, D. S., & Cornu, A. L. (2011). Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday.