The Conquistador
If Digital Natives are people that have been born into it, The Conquistadors are the ones who worked hard to show up, and make no question about it, they run this town. If you’re reading this blog and are over 20ish years old, chances are you’re a Conquistador. Not only are you way ahead of most other people your age when it comes to the internet, but you’re most likely way ahead of everyone. Conquistadors are the trend-setters, celebrities, and taste-makers of the new web.

In many ways, Conquistadors are very like Digital Natives. You’ve got to work to win them over, but if you do, they’ll shout your praises through every channel they can think of.

The Trons
Aptly named because the last good memory they have of technology was the 1982 movie Tron. They don’t want it, don’t need it, and won’t use it unless they absolutely have to.

If you’re targeting Trons, then good luck. You’ve got to have a couple things working for you in order to be successful. The first thing is you have to be really really easy to figure out. The second thing is that you have to have a user base that includes the “slightly more tech inclined friend-of-Tron” or SMTIFOD as we call it in the biz. (I’m just kidding, no one really says that.)

The One Trick Pony
The OTP is a user who knows the internet enough to use it for one or two things, and as far as they’re concerned, that’s all it’s for. Take my girlfriend’s mom for example. Her web experience/expertise doesn’t stretch very far beyond emailing, but she is an eBay wizard. Her digital world consists of the big “e’s”: e-mail and eBay.

The key with the OTP is to make your service or site as accessible as possible. You need to show the benefits right away. They’re a tough demo to snag, but provide an extremely loyal user base once you’ve got them on board.

So are Digital Natives really that unimportant right now? Are there any groups I missed? Let’s hear your thoughts.

If you’re at all active in the blogging/new media/technology/futurist/marketing/social media space, you’ve probably heard the term “Digital Native”.

In case you’re not part of that 8 word super-slash, or just missed the boat, a Digital Native is someone that doesn’t know life without computers or the internet.

People have been making a big deal about “the impact of Digital Natives” and “what Digital Natives mean to ____________”. But the truth is, right now anyway, Digital Natives aren’t that important at all.

Let’s think about it – by my estimation/definition, Digital Natives were born around or after 1989. This makes the oldest possible Digital Native about 20 years old. And odds are, if you’re running a business, the under 20 market isn’t the biggest piece of the pie you need to worry about.

The big thing about Digital Natives is that because they’ve grown up with this technology, they’re quick to adapt, adopt, and move on to the next big thing. So when you’re rolling the dice on your next big “will they do it?” web project, higher adoption rates from Digital Natives can be expected (as long as your product doesn’t suck).

But with most businesses, these people aren’t the make-or-break in the market. Look at Facebook. I was on there from the very beginning, when it was all college kids. People my age are on the very verge of what is typically defined as a Digital Native, so by definition, Facebook was full of them. But Facebook didn’t really take off until it opened it’s doors to everyone.

So we know that Digital Natives will try out your new web service. They will shape the next Twitter, the next bogs, and podcasts. But they’re not the people you have to worry about.

And who is it that you should be focusing on? Check back tomorrow to find out!