Generation V

There's an interesting conversation going on at IBM's Smart Work Jam about the concept of age being just a number when it comes to social networking and virtual worlds.

"I've led groups of zealous, older managers into Second Life sessions, where a number of younger managers were less interested, and managers of all ages have opted into the online community that I launched for them," one commenter states.

As a result, many have begun using "Generation V," or "Generation Virtual," which is not age-specific, to describe individuals who engage in Web 2.0 and virtual worlds. In fact, as one commenter stated, the debate over the generational divide in the workplace when it comes to technology is actually diverting attention from the real issue: "When workers of any age (including old) see business value, they are quick to adopt. So here's the issue that's masked: how do we demonstrate business value to people of all ages?"

I agree that we should pay less attention to the so-called generational divide in the workplace and start focusing on the contributions of all generations that inform and change the way we work.

Wired Workplace is a daily look at issues facing the federal information technology workforce. It is written by former Government Executive reporter Brittany Ballenstedt and published on Nextgov.com. Click here to read the latest entries.