Hello, My Name Is John and I’m a ‘Digitivity Denizen’
Internet addiction disorder may not be a classifiable mental disorder, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a marketing demographic, right? According to an online survey conducted by advertising agency JWT, many U.S. adults feel they can’t make it a week without Internet access, with one in three choosing online activities over sex and time with friends.
“It is taking away from offline activities, among them having sex, socializing face-to-face, watching TV and reading newspapers and magazines. It cuts into that share,” said Ann Mack, director of trend-spotting at JWT. “I don’t suppose their partners are too pleased about it.”
Unless of course, their partners fall into the same marketing demographic for which JWT has concocted a tortured, but happily alliterative, neologism. “We are calling them ‘digitivity denizens,’ those who see their cellphones as an extension of themselves, whose online and offline lives are commingled and who would chose a Wi-Fi connection over TV any day,” said Mack. “This is how they communicate, entertain and live.”
