- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmit.online
Gen Z falls for online scams more than their boomer grandparents do. The generation that grew up with the internet isn’t invulnerable to becoming the victim of online hackers and scammers.::undefined
*Person criticizes Zoomers*
Random Zoomer: “Yeah, well, THE BOOMERS ARE WORSE.”
I’m not even a zoomer. I’m just trying to not be sensationalist like the source.
By the source I assume you mean me, and not the article. Because I’m not being sensationalist. I’m being unfair and judgmental. Very different things.
No I mean the source. You’re just being anecdotal and that’s ok.
Vox is being charitable to the Zoomers, though, observing that “Gen Z simply uses technology more than any other generation and is therefore more likely to be scammed via that technology.” The original study is also in a peer reviewed journal. It’s not making judgment calls about Zoomers. It’s aggregating statistical data. You can read the article here: https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=ijcic
From the discussion of findings at the end of the article, the researchers observed that
“It is reasonable to assume that the safer practices the older group self-reported is accompanied by greater knowledge of information security simply because of the additional years of being engaged in a digital-technology world. Specifically, it was hypothesized that Generation Y would rank higher than Generation Z adults on the OSBBQ Cybersecurity Awareness subscale, and significant differences were observed for half of the items included in the analysis.”
And also that
“From a developmental perspective, it is possible that the normal adaptations that occur throughout one’s life impacted how individuals in this study perceived the literal meaning of the items. This could be due to cultural differences inherent to their generational cohort and the individual experiences that occur over time with age. For example, people tend to lose their sense of invulnerability as hey age (Denscombe & Drucquer, 1999) and generation Y adults grew up in a world where adapting to privacy and cybersecurity threats were first becoming more commonplace. These individuals are now at an age where the realities of (online) risk have become part of their conscious awareness as it relates to their lack of invulnerability.”
Like, this formal study is incredibly generous in its discussion of why Gen. Z might be shown to be more statistically likely to fall for online scams than other cohorts. It also goes into great detail to explain its own limitations as a study.
That study seems to be a survey of college students knowledge of cyber security not anything to do with what you were claiming before as there are no boomers in question.
Yes, they acknowledge that as well when they discuss the sample population. Baby Boomers are literally not a part of it. The title of the Vox article is just drawn from a Deloitte industry survey. Which has no real context or judgment around it - it’s purely a reporting of aggregate statistics. The Vox article just attempts to explain why Zoomers, a generational cohort that grew up with the internet, might be more statistically prevalent for succumbing to those scams compared to Baby Boomers, who were fully adult when the internet became widespread. The superficial presumption is that you would expect the opposite - the older generations have little to no familiarity with modern technology and are more easily victimized by it. That presumption is all the Vox article is discussing, really, and why it’s probably not correct.
So you agree the article is sensationalist? Why link me a study that is irrelevant for no reason?
The article is not sensationalist. Please quote me a part of the article that you feel is and I can address the statements that make you feel that way.
Because that study is referenced as one of the primary sources the article uses to provide evidence for the phenomenon it discusses. The link to that research paper is literally in the article. It’s critical to the article.