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Nearly everyone assumes the modern teen is internet obsessed.

Sure, 92% of teenagers report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online “almost constantly” — according to Pew Research data. But young millennials’ addiction to all things web doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a digital native. Nor is someone who just so happened to grow up in the Internet age.

So what exactly makes someone a “digital native”?

Marc Prensky, known for inventing and popularizing the terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant”, told Mashable the following: “The most important thing to realize is that this is a metaphor. It’s not a distinction or a brand, it’s extremely fluid.”

“Digital immigrants are people who grew up in one digital culture and moved into another,” Prensky explained. “Digital natives are people who grew up in one culture. They don’t have two cultures to compare.”

More than one meaning

Although Prensky explained the term was coined as a term to encompass the emerging digital native landscape in 2001, it has since evolved. According to Lee Rainie of Pew Research Center, its meaning is now hotly debated.

“Many notions and definitions have popped up in a number of places, and they’re often fairly contested,” said Rainie, the center’s Director of Internet, Science and Technology. “A native is someone who is totally aware and understands technology.”

“A native is someone who is totally aware and understands technology.”

Rainie goes on to explain that many scholars and analysts believe even though digital natives are good at using platforms and social media, they don't necessarily always know how to code or how these apps work.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the concept “digital natives vs. immigrants” is the fact that it mostly has to do with the background and surroundings — not so much age of the person in question. Rainie, whose team has been tracking digital patterns for the past 16 years, says the “native vs. immigrant” divide essentially comes down to desktop compared to mobile-based usage.

“You can see how people who grew up in the age of wired computers differ from those who grew up with mobile technology,” she said.

Today’s youth is more likely to be digitally native than their parents or grandparents. This comes into play with things like using trendy social platforms and services, such as Snapchat, as opposed to Facebook (the traditional social platform) or email.

“You can see the differences inside families, too — even four or five-year age differences result in varying experiences with digital media,” Rainie said.

The evolution

Digital natives may not be necessarily tech savvy, but their sense of knowledge... both digitally and culturally sets them up to be natives.

These variances have effects on the way they consume media. In the past couple of decades, historical events such as the Columbine high school shooting, the attacks on Sept. 11, the influence of the Bush Administration and the 2008 Presidential elections have all been documented differently according to the preferred media of their day, Rainie explains. Whereas the 9/11 attacks and Bush presidency were mainly documented through cable television and emerging online coverage, the historic 2008 Election ushered in an unprecedented era of digital coverage of politics, namely via social media.

Today, however, digital natives may not be necessarily tech savvy, but their sense of knowledge of what’s going on both digitally and culturally is what sets them up to be natives.

More often than not, teens have a self awareness of the privilege they have of growing up in an all-digital era. For 18-year-old Isabel Radice, acknowledging her access to the Internet for most of her life is something she doesn’t take lightly.

“I constantly talk about how much I love being born in the ‘Internet generation’ because it led me to meet people through online platforms — especially Tumblr and Twitter — who had similar interests,” she said. “From about the age of 14, I was able to connect with people from all over the world.”

Another Pew Research study shows 57% of teens have met a new friend online, while social media and online gameplay are the two top ways to meet friends digitally.

It’s also ushered in different career paths: “I love watching talks and reading articles online about Facebook’s algorithms; it helped me realize I have an interest in programming and coding,” Radice says.

But overall, the online world is how digital natives form a good portion of their identity.

“I use Pinterest and read lot of beauty and music blogs,” Rachel Jefferson, 19, said. “I also discover the majority of bands I listen to through the internet, rather than by word of mouth.”

When it comes to this type of cultural grouping, it’s no secret embracing digital platforms has been popularized by younger demographics. Pew data suggests “those ages 18 to 29 have always been the most likely users of social media by a considerable margin.”

The takeaway

Overall, just because you grew up with the Internet, doesn’t mean you are a digital native.

To fully consider someone a digital native points to the fact that “these people are deeply immersed into this world,” Rainie explains. “They see everything such as the benefits — the love, emotional side — and at the same time, they see the cyberbullying and harassments.”

At the end of the day, a digital native is someone who gets it, for all the good and bad that it offers.

Prensky stresses “millennials should have a responsible sense of how empowered they are. Digital natives are can do things that older generations could just never do.”

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Picture a mural transforming before your eyes. You would assume it must be digital, a projected image, but you look closely and see that it’s not. It’s a painting that is being changed by air.

That’s what you can expect to see if you head to The Container Yard in the arts district of Downtown Los Angeles for the Degrees of Perfect exhibition, presented by Lennox, on June 24, 2016.

It’s an idea so new that at first it felt impossible. Even those who have been involved since its inception are amazed to see it come to fruition.

We spoke to some of the collaborators on the project to find out more about how this first-of-its-kind exhibition came to be.

Ideation: Degrees of Perfect

What does perfect feel like for you?

It’s not the same for everyone. But, in reflecting on the question, the team involved with the project noticed one important similarity across their unique visions of perfect: balance.

For Fluke, president at ASHOP CREW and the lead creative producer on the project, perfect is a balance that allows for creative productivity. He describes it as “having the perfect environment and the perfect elements around you in order to be creative and to be able to express yourself…. It’s the perfect lighting, the perfect sound.”

“It’s the air that is the perfect temperature; it’s not too hot and not too cold,” answered Kyle Mitchell, associate creative director at GSD&M. “It’s a world where all these things come together to create something brand new.”

With this in mind, the team set out to create something that would communicate the Degrees of Perfect idea. To do this, the creative team looked to two seemingly opposite worlds and worked to bring them together in harmony.

“It’s a balance between engineering and the piece of art,” Fluke explains. “We have two completely separate universes that come together to create something unique and present it in the format of an exhibition.”

The team had a lofty vision for that exhibition: paintings that used air as a medium.

At first, the idea felt almost too lofty. “One of the biggest challenges for me was the fact that this was just a huge theory. The idea of having a color-changing art piece, forget having a color-changing mural, it was just a big theory that Kyle and me were kicking around.”

The science

Any traces of doubt were erased as the dedicated team of specialists got to work, solving one puzzle at a time.

The paint, designed to react to changing temperatures, was the first part and, surprisingly, the easiest. “It’s super simple. The paint itself is designed to disappear at a certain temperature, and it’s programmed in laboratories. It’s really designed that way chemically. The problem is that it’s not a precise science, so it changes at different temperatures.” Fluke explains.

In order for this paint to detect the temperature change two things had to be engineered: a heat-detecting canvas and a unique HVAC system.

“First I asked Fluke what temperatures he needed, that was the most important thing.” Alain Savard, Founder and Owner of Climatisation – premier Lennox dealer, explains, “I took those two temperatures, and we calculated how much time it is going to take to make the panel react.”

From there, the team tested numerous frames and canvases—small at first, then progressively larger. “We put aluminum in the front and really good insulation in the front’ Alain explains. “We played with it a lot. I don’t know how many [we made].”

Creating the perfect air was the next challenge. Lennox systems are designed to do exactly this, so the team knew it was possible, but the project called for a completely unique HVAC system.

“The genius behind this,” Fluke explains, “was that Alain was able to give us a closed circuit, so we’re not wasting any energy. We’re actually recycling the same air over and over again, which is something I had not thought of. That’s where his expertise really came into place, he said, ‘We can’t waste this hot air or cold air; let’s recycle it.’"

The art

With the paint, canvas and perfect air in order, the team set out to find artists who were up to the challenge.

“One of the things that was remarkable was to see the reactions that the [artists] were having when we expressed to them that they were able to add an extra layer to their work.” Fluke tells us.

“[As artists] we’re essentially telling a story, visually, and one of the main challenges of the visual artist, as a painter, as a muralist, is that you’re trying to tell a story, you’re trying to share an emotion, but you only have one layer.”

He continues, “There hasn’t been a traditional painting form where you can add a second layer, an animation, so we essentially gave the artist’s 50% more opportunity to express themselves.” Fluke explains.

That said, ASHOP CREW and Lennox wanted the crème de la crème: the people who could master this new medium of thermal art and use that second layer to help creatively communicate the Degrees of Perfect idea.

“We chose very talented people from different areas. We have artists from Montreal, Toronto and a local from L.A.” Fluke explained. “The one thing they have in common is that they’re street artists, they know one surface to a certain extent, which is murals. They’ve all painted live scale murals and they’ve done so much work in the public eye. We wanted to give them an opportunity to take something they’re already doing and bring it to another level, another degree.”

With the air and the thermal art sorted, there was just one final layer: sound. The team chose recording artist and producer Toro y Moi and starRo to DJ on the night. Not only is Toro y Moi extremely talented and enthusiastic about the project, he is a graphic designer, artist and illustrator himself, so he has a deep understanding of the work that’s gone into the project.

The result

On Friday, June 24, at 8:00 p.m., the results of this incredible project will be showcased at The Container Yard in Downtown L.A. If you’re in the area, register with DoLA to see this sure-to-be incredible exhibition.

For more, follow along with the hashtag #lennoxartproject and here:

@Lennox on Facebook
@LennoxAir on Instagram
@LennoxAir on Twitter

And stay tuned to Mashable and Lennox^® for more!

LONDON — I'm sitting in a packed theatre on the opening night of a sellout production. It's a night I've been looking forward to for months, but right now I'm more interested in my phone.

While everyone around me chatters excitedly before the play starts, I'm silently staring at Instagram, but it's not what you think.

I tap the word "following" at the top of my notifications tab and I'm taken to a page that tells me what my friends have liked. And, more specifically, what my ex-boyfriend has liked. 

My heart's in my mouth as my eyes flit about the screen, trying to take everything in. Just a few words on a screen have confirmed what I've been dreading: that my ex has moved on.

Seconds later, the curtain rises, the lights dim and the play begins; but my thoughts are elsewhere. 

For the next three and a half hours, I'm oblivious to the scene in front of me. My mind is playing out the story of my ex and his new girlfriend as I blink back tears.

Instagram's notifications section is usually a pretty innocuous feature. When set to "you," it tells you who's liked your photos, who's commented and who's followed you. 

If you flip to the "following" tab, you can find out what the people you're following have liked. 

Most of the time, this feature is pretty uneventful. It will mostly tell you which of your cousins has liked a dozen cat photos, or which of your friends is most obsessed with avocados. 

But, this feature that can also offer some revealing insights into what your lover, your ex-lover or your love interest is getting up to.

In the throes of a painful breakup, I decided to check the "following" section of Instagram to see if I could gain any kind of insight into what my ex was getting up to. I — like so many other people during breakups — wanted to know if he was as sad as I was; if he was carrying on regardless; or if he had moved on completely. 

I checked periodically at first, and then the urge became greater. I kept seeing the same name appearing over and over next to his. A name I'd never heard him mention before when talking about friends or family. 

The more often her name appeared in the "following" section, the more frequent my visits to that feed became. 

Each time I saw her name, the blood would rush to my face, my heart rate would quicken, and a feeling of sickening jealousy came over me. I hated what I saw, but I told myself I needed to see it. 

That final visit to the feed as I sat in the crowded theatre told me that my ex had commented on the girl in question's selfie with a kissing emoji. A further few clicks showed me more comments, more likes, and more emoji that had been passed between the two.

Although I believed this information would help me, research suggests that it could have made my breakup worse than it needed to be. 

Researchers labelled this type of behaviour “interpersonal electronic surveillance,” a.k.a. social media stalking. 

I had before me what looked like the beginnings of a budding relationship. 

In a recent study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, researchers labelled this type of behaviour “interpersonal electronic surveillance,” a.k.a. social media stalking. Researchers explored the impact of "online surveillance after relationship termination" and found that seeing exes flirting over social media actually makes it harder for people to get over their relationships. 

Dating and relationship expert James Preece says that repeatedly checking your Instagram following tab isn't just a breakup thing; people in healthy relationships do it too. 

"The problem with this is that it can really feed paranoia. Even if you are in a great relationship, if you like the wrong type of Instagram post then it can raise alarm bells. [Your partner] will wonder what you are up to and what your motivations might be," Preece told Mashable. 

Preece says that if your partner keeps liking certain people's posts, then you shouldn't be afraid to question their actions. But — he says — there could be a completely innocent explanation behind it. 

"If you are experiencing a breakup then it's even harder. You'll watch every single like and get more and more jealous. The best thing to do during a breakup is to take a break from social media," Preece continued. 

Student Kylie Hill from North Carolina thinks that incessant checking of Instagram's "following" notifications can be harmful for relationships, but it also helped her discover a boyfriend's cheating.

"I used to check it all the time just to see what my boyfriend was doing," Hill told Mashable. 

"One time I was dating someone and I found out he had another girlfriend just by the pictures the was liking [on Instagram] so I went on the girl's page and saw that they had been dating for a while," Hill continued. 

She's not the only person to have unearthed a partner's secret through this feature.

Ishita Ranjan — a marketing manager from London — found out that her boyfriend was in a relationship with someone else by checking the following tab. 

"It made me feel sick to my stomach."

"He told me he'd been to a wildlife park with a friend. Then I noticed on Instagram's following page that a friend had liked a photo of a girl at the same wildlife park," Ranjan told Mashable.

When Ranjan clicked on her profile, she saw that the two had been to the wildlife park together. It took a further 30 seconds to realise that they were in fact in a relationship. 

"It made me feel sick to my stomach," Ranjan continued.

Instagram became Ranjan's source for finding out what her boyfriend wasn't telling her. 

"I trusted Instagram more than him," she continued. 

Whether you're in the middle of a breakup, or you're worried about what your partner is getting up to, Instagram notifications can offer an insight that might be otherwise unavailable to you. 

"I trusted Instagram more than him."

In my experience, the "following" tab made my breakup even more painful than it needed to be, but it also told me what I needed to know: That I too should be moving on. The moment I got confirmation of his moving on, I knew that things between us were 100% over, and I was free to continue with my life.

Nonetheless, it's an experience I don't wish to repeat, and since that breakup I've refrained from looking at that section of the app. Yes, this app could confirm a partner's cheating, but it's important to remember that Instagram 'likes' are often be totally meaningless.

In short, use this feature sparingly: It can be a deal-breaker or a disaster. 

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In an emotional 1,100-word Facebook post published Friday, Sheryl Sandberg reflected on her first year as a widow and single mother. 

The Facebook COO, who lost her husband Dave Goldberg in May 2015, describes a "new and unfamiliar world" of trying to succeed at work without a partner at home, struggling to comfort her grieving children and regularly encountering reminders, like father-daughter dances, that her family will never be the same.

"Before, I did not quite get it. I did not really get how hard it is to succeed at work when you are overwhelmed at home," Sandberg writes in her post. "I did not understand how often I would look at my son’s or daughter’s crying face and not know how to stop the tears. How often situations would come up that Dave and I had never talked about and that I did not know how to handle on my own."

While the post was deeply personal, Sandberg devoted much of it to honoring single mothers and describing the challenges they face. 

"For many single mothers, this is the only world they know," Sandberg writes. "Each and every day they make sacrifices, push through barriers, and nurture beautiful families despite the demands on their time and energy."

Sandberg, who authored the 2013 bestselling book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, even gave credit to critics who said she didn't fully understand or account for the choices single mothers must make when trying to tend to their children and excel at work. She writes: 

In Lean In, I emphasized how critical a loving and supportive partner can be for women both professionally and personally—and how important Dave was to my career and to our children’s development. I still believe this. Some people felt that I did not spend enough time writing about the difficulties women face when they have an unsupportive partner or no partner at all. They were right.

Sandberg, however, didn't stop there. She marshaled statistics to illustrate the tough odds single mothers labor against, including the fact that 35% of them experience food insecurity and 46% of families headed by black and Hispanic single mothers live in poverty. 

"Single moms have been leaning in for a long time." 

Sandberg highlights the story of one San Jose, California, mother who works two jobs and must choose between groceries and paying her cell phone bill. Both are essential, she writes, because without the phone, her son won't be able to call his mother at her second job to say he's arrived home after traveling through their unsafe neighborhood. 

"Single moms have been leaning in for a long time—out of necessity and a desire to provide the best possible opportunities for their children," Sandberg writes. 

She criticizes the American stance on issues like paid parental and sick leave as leaving families to "fend for themselves" and concludes the post with a call to "rethink our public and corporate workforce policies and broaden our understanding of what a family is and looks like." 

Sandberg's strong convictions and empathetic approach will likely quiet some of her critics, particularly if she continues to advocate for all single mothers and their families — and she seems poised to do just that.

"We need to understand that it takes a community to raise children and that so many of our single mothers need and deserve a much more supportive community than we give them," she writes. "We owe it to them and to their children to do better." 

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We've all woken up and thought, "Should I call in sick again?" 

Shine wants to give you the motivational boost you need. The daily texting service launched Tuesday with the goal to inspire millennials with fun and relatable text messages throughout the day. 

"Millennials are increasingly seeking ways to connect with themselves and set their days and their lives up for success. It's called intentional living and they are all about it," says the founders in email to Mashable. 

What started as a "side hustle” for Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey in 2015 became full time when they left positions at DoSomething.org to focus on Shine. "We had working sessions every weekday morning (hello, 6 a.m. Google Hangout) and every weeknight, as well as Sunday working sessions at our apartments,” Lidey says. "One Sunday, months before we knew we had funding, we took an extra long gulp of rosé and said 'let's do this.'"

As two women of color, Lidey and Hirabayashi say they are "dedicated to diversifying the world of tech and entrepreneurship." Silicon Valley, the heart of the tech industry, is known for its diversity problems, and women entrepreneurs statistically receive less funding.

The founders saw the problem with using social media, even its seemingly uplifting hashtags, like "Motivational Monday" or "Throwback Thursday," for encouragement. Studies have shown constant social media use can contribute to depression; comparing ourselves to other people on Instagram may not be the healthiest motivation.

"While social media helps us connect with others, it often only shows the 'highlight reel' of our friends or celebs, which adds to the pressure," says Lidey.

"They are not alone...what they are experiencing is 100% normal."

On Shine, each day has a different theme, with topics surrounding ways users can be happier, healthier and encourage them to be more confident and productive. The texts often include a GIF, quote or pop culture reference. Each includes a link to an article relating to the theme of the text.

The text is sent at 8:30 a.m. based on the user's timezone. Because the language aims to be relatable, the service feels like an encouraging friend rooting for you to have a good day. 

"There are articles, books and pricey career or life coaching, but nothing that is bite-sized and approaches you like a friend would (with ample Olivia Pope GIFS in tow). Shine is for millennials who are thinking about their work and life decisions 24/7 and have highs and lows throughout the week," says Lidey.

Users can respond up to five times a day for further inspiration:

Early user reviews are mostly positive.

Users can sign up for the free texting service on the website. Standard texting rates apply. 

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Note: This post will be continually updated throughout the event.

How do you get celebs to do the robot? Plan a Met Gala with a theme closely tied to technology.

Celebrities marched the red carpet on Monday night at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, in looks that screamed a pretty cliché idea of technology: silver, a.k.a. robots, a.k.a MacBooks.

Good enough, right? When all else fails and you can't think of anything better, just default to something that screams futuristic: space grey.

The event's theme, Manus X Machina, explores the relationship of fashion and tech, specifically how they can work together for the future. The related costume exhibit opens May 5 at the museum. 

Many of the silvery looks are beautiful, but so many similar looks begs the question: Can we think bigger? After all, that's what tech is all about.

Kylie Jenner

Cindy Crawford

Ciara

Rose Byrne

Rita Ora

Taylor Swift

Kate Upton

Demi Lovato

Anna Ewers

Huma Abedin

Mackenzie Davis 

Misty Copeland

Lara Stone

Juno Temple

Julie Macklowe

Poppy Delevingne 

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