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The Flattened Life - the Impact of Digital Natives in a Traditional Realty World.

In a perfect world, we would all know everything there was to know about everything and everybody...right?

If you answered affirmatively to that statement, it's likely that you were born in the late 80's or sometime thereafter and are a part of Generation Y also referred to as the Millennial Generation. If you're a Gen Xer or Baby Boomer, you're more likely to squirm. Something about that statement feels intrusive...

In "Born Digital", John Palfrey explores how Gen Y's are changing the world. The worldview of the Digital Native is impacting critical aspects of everyday life. Recently, I watched a speech Palfrey made at the Google Headquarters on C-Span. He highlighted some interesting observations which included:

1. Identity is no longer just a physical entity; it's also digital

2. Digital identity has multiple expressions

It can be 'collapsed' over multiple platforms to create a composite

3. Convergence means that in the flattened world, your personal info is always on your person

4. Research now assumes a search online...Google searches vs the library

5. "Deep Diving" through linking allow for much more information to be quickly evaluated

6. The "expert opinion" is not necessarily the most trusted opinion. Peer evaluation is important

Born Digital...

When you think about it, just about everything a young person encounters today in the western world has a digital stamp, starting from the first sonogram image and continuing into online school records, sporting activities, social media, blogs and gaming.

If these digital records are combined with readily available public records (for example address, tax information, legal data), it is possible to create a suprisingly robust personal profile.

Gen Y's have lived with this reality their entire lives. Many of them cannot fathom a world view in which exposure from every angle is not the norm.

The Challenge of Change...

Although Gen Y's were raised by Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, the older generation has been a little slow to grasp the enormity of the change which is rapidly occurring in every segment of life. The real estate profession provides many examples of this failure to grasp the rapidly emerging reality of the impact of the flattened life.

Why Real Estate will not be an exception...

One arena in which this new focus may redefine who derives the most benefit in a flattened world is in the area of online ratings, a practise which is as ubiquitous as water or air.

In the flattened world, EVERYTHING is rated and judged...comments, ideas, people, pictures, products, services by EVERYONE. (I say everyone in the sense that although not everyone is judging, the vast majority of individuals are checking the ratings of a variety of items/issues to help inform decision making on a regular basis.)

For real estate agents, is is wise to anticipate that in a flattened world, your clients will be forming impressions about you and the home they are purchasing with information garnered from a variety of sources. Here are some of the ways in which a flattened world may intrude on a world in which the authority structure has traditionally resembled a pyramid. Consider the implications of rating services.

Agent Rating Services:

Does your broker have an agent evaluation system in place for each transaction?

Does Your Multiple Listing Service provide a public agent rating tool?

Do you have a Google alert in place to monitor online conversation about you or your brokerage?

Do you have profiles on major consumer sites such as Facebook, Linked In, Zillow, Trulia?

If your clients make judgements from online information, how might this impact your business?

And your home listing...

In addition, it is not too far fetched to imagine a world in which homes will also be rated. A world in which the views of individuals who have toured the home or know the neighborhood will have their comments indexed along the URL's of the listing agents' promotional website.

Moving further into the future, one may imagine a transaction in which even the items in the home can be researched for their longetivity and reliability. Afterall, data on most appliances can already be found easily online.

Would it make sense for real estate professionals to provide this data to prospective clients along with a Home Warranty as a part of full disclosure? Who knows where all this will eventually lead, but one thing is certain...we are moving into a new type of flattened territory which will challenge and collapse many traditionally excepted norms. Are you ready?

image of composite of flat tire provided courtesy of Ahmed Rabea's photostream on flickr

* You may also enjoy reading this article "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Nativesby Dorron Taussig of Washington Monthly.

Lola Audu, CRS, GRI e-Pro ~ Audu Real Estate

Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate. Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area. We've had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients succeed in their goals of purchasing and selling property including demonstrated success in the negotiation of Short Sale Transactions. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511.

Posted by Lola Audu~Real Estate Broker/Owner Grand Rapids, Michigan Real Estate on 06/09/2009 11:51 PM

Comments (43)

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43 Comments on The Flattened Life - the Impact of Digital Natives in a Traditional Realty World.

JUN

Lola - this really makes one think a bit, not just about the generational differences, and how things have changed, but also about the future. I find it fascinating to watch, and learn.

Jeff

JUN

So do I Jeff. What is most fascinating to me is the concept of parallel worlds (digital & traditional) engaging and intersecting & the unique challenges this presents.

Hmmm.....I think the best thing for me to do is just watch, learn and grow!

Well Sally, that is a far better response than resist and ignore. :)

Thank you for your detailed post. Very interesting read, and to put these concepts in perspective is something hard to do. However, you managed it well. I've never been a fan of rating, and it's not because I'm a 'bad' agent. I just think we live in a very 'negative' period, and we are all moody, condescending, unappreciative. If clients are allowed to 'rate' then I would like to have the opportunity to challenge or at least explain. And, to keep it a rating, not a berating, would be hard to accomplish. There ARE, and have been, avenues to report a bad agent. The Better Business Bureau, for one. Also the local NAR boards, and at the higher, licensing level, the states' licensing board. Unfortunately, the days of the 'good old boys' mentality has prevented many of the bad agents from being sanctioned, or penalized for their misdeeds. I sat on our local NAR "Grievance Committee" and the things that were allowed to slide . . . I couldn't stand it! This is why the consumers feel as if they need the rating systems . . . we have not done enough to self-regulate (and I'm more for self-regulating then having someone vent.)

It's similar to hiring an attorney, and the case is lost. Might have been a no-win situation to begin with, and the lawyer did all they could. Still . . . human nature (and we're all prone to it) is to blame the attorney for losing the case.

Your thoughts??

P.S. When I added you as an Associate I wrote: "Lola Audu, Grand Rapids, MI, real estate professional, and good AR blogger. She provokes your thoughts!!"

How right was I!!

Great Post Lola! It is amazing (and a little frightening) to see how rapidly our world has changed over the past several decades

Carla, you raise some important issues. I straddle the Gen X/Baby Boomer divide & this is an issue which I have not embraced entirely because I am wary of some of the implications and the problems that arise out of the 'law of unintended consequences.' However, I can also observe in my own life, an increased use of online services to help filter out unpleasant surprises when traveling or dining out for instance. And it makes sense, the this would be something consumers would want...who wants to deal with an unprofessional agent.

That being said, there are often 2 sides to each issue & having sat on a Professional Standards Board in my local association, I have been amazed by how hearing both sides changes everthing. I think it would be prudent for real estate professionals to take the lead in providing these forums, but what remains to be seen is if the effort will be viewed as self serving or consumer serving.

I'd agree with you on that Mike! And...I think it's going to continue to change; sometimes in unanticipated ways. This represents both crisis and opportunity...

I just watched the presentation on Google Wave. When that comes, watch out! It is gonna change the way we interact forever.

Thanks for the thought-provoking post. I'm a boomer (tail end, but stil a boomer), yet technically inclined. I just find now that work is so busy that there's not much of me left over for social networking.

Jonathan, thanks for mentioning Google Wave. Here's a link to a video if you're interested in learning more about this tool and the potential to totally transform the communication process.

Lola - I did squirm a little bit after reading that initial question. I guess I am officially old(er) now. This was thought-provoking, as always. I have definitely adjusted to the idea that my online persona is something to be cultivated carefully.

We agree with Carla -- the whole public forum thing can get out of hand whether it is ranking and agent, or another profession or person -- there is always someone with a petty ax to grind and is willing to do it in a public forum whether merited or not -- even on Active Rain there are often those referring to comments they had to delete because of some reason where the person was seeming to just be negative or offensive for no real reason that made sense. Our 2 cents -- good post.

I'm inspired to explore the impact of the digital world on Generation Y.

Don't throw us out just yet.

Lola, when I do my listing presentations now, I include this information. Even if the seller is a baby boomer like me, I explain that our Buyer may not be!

Lola,

1. Identity is no longer just a physical entity; it's also digital. I agree, yet don't really understand why so many of the Gen Y'ers continue to sabotage their online identities by posting such damaging information about themselves. There is no question that employers are searching social networking sites and rejecting some people based on what they see.

Rich

Well said, Lola.

I do think we are in transition. Right now we are using traditonal with the new digital. But, I am sure there will be a day when it is all digital and in the air. I hope we never use the rating systems, everyone can have a difficult transaction.

Lola...

I find a certain sadness associated with this mindset. How troubling it must be attempting to reconcile your online personality with the real you! Wow.

I am going back on the MLS Board next year because part of MLS 5.0 is making it interactive with the public. We have as an older generation in control of the business not only wanting to hide our identity, but also control the data which in a flattened world is not possible. I may be at the front end of the boomer group, but I know that our client is typically 28, and that we need young and advanced Realtors to create a synthesis in thinking with the older group who will be exiting this business over the next ten years. This is the kind of post i like best on Active rain and thank you.

Being a BabyBoomer, having first learned to use a computer and find my way online in the mid1990s I would hate to think I and my personality and work ethic will come down to a flat ratings system. What I believe to be true of digital is ... it appears to be flat, one dimension.. where people are 3 dimensional, we can not be judged (rated) by using a method that leaves out much of what we are.

I too believe we are in some type of transition, what exactly it will become, I don't know, it will be interesting to see the outcome. Eternally hoping here for the best. :) Thanks for the thought provoking post, it is well deserving of the Featured gold star!

Lola...

But I don't want to be flat :)

On a more serious note, this is a thought provoking post. Only you could have written this. I am very careful about what I put out there. I understand the ramifications of the Internet and social networking. If we're not careful things have a way of biting us on the butt. As far as ratings go, we've seen the result of such things right here on AR. Hopefully, rating systems will never become something we have to concern ourselves with. I like to think that people with any amount of intelligence understands a rating system is subject to abuse.

Did you know about this site <CLICK CLICK> It allows neighbors to rate each other. It's a very good example of what has happened to our culture. It's all so very sad :(

TLW...ROAR!

I did squirm a little but realize that what you say is correct eveyrthing about us can be on line and we will be rated even if we don't want to be.

Lola

Excellent post on one that everyone should put in the basket. We talked at length yesterday about Gen Y real estate agents and they are looking for different things then other gen's. Goes the same for buyers and sellers.

How interesting to born growing up with all this.....as perfectly nomal.

TLW ~ I realize now why I don't list in my neighborhood . . . HAHA

GREAT post Lola! Pandora left the building with box wide open and emptying daily . . .

Lola, throughout your discussion I thought about the pace of change increasing, and the adoption of new technology by younger generations. It is the way the world is heading for sure. I am not so sure fast is always so accurate though. Garbage in garbage out you know. But from MULTIPLE sources you can get a truer picture. Like in the old days with more than one newspaper.

Lola, I find Gen Y'ers fascinating. I have become accustomed to them "researching" me prior to calling for my services. This makes the beginning of our relationship start before we ever actually meet IRL. They are fast thinkers and extremely well informed on a variety of topics. When we encounter something they are unfamiliar with, they absorb information like a paper towel on a commercial. When they possess knowledge of a subject, they are very good about sharing and teaching. I love being around people from Generation Y! For me, it is an enjoyable learning experience.

That's really deep! I think that "Cell phone Text Messages" giving the property description to a prospect while they are sitting in their car in front of the property, will be the direction we are heading next, with technical assistance from my 2 teen age daughters ......

Vickie, it is true that this type of activity (social media) takes time. But, that really is the case in most aspects of business life. What remains to be measured with a degree of accuracy which rises past the standard of anecdotal evidence is the degree to which engagement online impacts the livelihood of real estate professionals.

While many of us may secretly hope it doesn't matter, I am struck by how rapidly the online community is growing worldwide. I think it may matter far more than most of us think today & that if we really understood...making the time would not be the central issue of contention. We'd accept it as a cost of doing business.

Jason..what? You are old? What does that make the rest of us? LOL

But seriously, while cultivating an online persona may be a worthwhile online assignment, I wonder if if protecting it may become as critical as personal safety in the 'traditional real world.'

Bob & Carolin...your comment demonstrates why there is wisdom in an 'official' rating site. Real estate associations still enjoy a measure of respect for the accuracy of the data they present about homes. It could be an opportunity for them to extend that trust into the arena of providing relevant data and recommendations on the members of their association. Your thoughts?

Lenn...One of the most interesting characteristics of the Gen & population as reported by those who study these things :) is that they generally like their older family members i.e. parents and don't mind spending time with them. So...we can hold out hope that we won't be thrown out. :)

But seriously, there are pros and cons to a world in which privacy is non existent. It creates a different kind of individual and subsequently society. And there's a part of me that says just because you think you know everything there is to know doesn't mean you really comprehend anything. Knowledge and wisdom are not necessarily the same.

Connie...that is progressive thinking!

Richard...that statement really hits home doesn't it...identity is now digital. Do you think that how we view identity may be creating a shift in how we are judged in the sense that we are changing some norms of behavior? Or have these things that we now see on Facebook been going on all along and we're simply more honest about who we really are?

Lola, As I was reading this facinating post, I thought that it deserved a feature....only to get to the bottom and find others felt the same way. While reading the statement on top, I squirmed....you made the points perfectly about some things I'd never realized! Thanks for a wonderful post.

Missy, there is at least one major association in the nation which is already offering agent ratings on it's public facing website. What was interesting to me in talking with the association execs was that the vast majority of the ratings received so far were POSITIVE. There is a possibility that this may actually be a good thing for our profession overall...

Richard...I'm thinking the goal of a good life is that there would be very little dichotomy between who you are online and in person. Wishful thinking, I know...:) TYes there are something which just can't be accurately communicated on the flat screen...they need to be fleshed out.

Joe, we desperately need the wisdom of experience on local MLS association boards as we wrestle with some of these issues. I'm glad that you're taking on that responsibility.

I think that one of the most difficult aspects of this process for some Gen X & Baby Boomers is the vulnerability that exposure brings when control is now in the hands of someone else. What many of us fail to see right now, is that we already KNOW that none of us is perfect.

The bigger issue is that in hiding our vulnerabilities, we may in some ways create a shadow on our strengths because there is not full disclosure. Your thoughts?

Lola, Fascinating and thought provoking. It is hard to truly wrap our minds around all of the changes. One thing I do find interesting is that all generation Y's are lumped into one category. My kids are both generation Y's and neither one uses Twitter or Facebook etc. I would love to see a study done on the different ways our younger generations are using the Internet. Just as we Babyboomers vary, so do they!

As a Gen Xer, I find myself (as probably do others) caught in the middle of this very interesting and dynamic paradigm shift that has been happening right before our very eyes. You've liad it out in a way that cannot escape the notice of all (congrats on the feature), and I'm wondering what types of discussions and solutions will come out of our pondering this...

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Hi Lola -- Exceptional post. Google "Shift Happens" and watch the original video (not the remake #2), turn up your speakers and get blown away. I'm a digital immigrant, my daughter is a digital native, she picks up on certain tech things faster than I do, and I have a B.S. in Computer Science :-) LOL

In a world where 'every thing you do or say, can and will be used against you', I still find having 'me' on the internet a little unnerving.

JUN

The though of Clients rating your services is nothing new to me since we have the Agent Evaluation Forms and we've had them in our company from day one :)

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