The “Immernet”…

I was listening to an interview with Tony O’Driscoll last week about MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) and their role in the enterprise (also heard him speak at Learning 2008 in Orlando). Toward the end of his interview, he mentioned the term “immernet”. I thought whoa…I like that word.

His intentional adjustment of the term “internet” is based on the fact that with all of these MMOG’s, individuals are now immersing themselves in the web. The reflection his research has afforded him, that we are the beneficiaries of, gives us a glimpse of how the younger generation (GenY, etc.) views their interactions online. They don’t observe, they don’t just interact. They immerse.

For individuals like me who are at the tail end of the GenX era, I’m certainly comfortable with technology, I blog, I tweet, I even stream video from my mobile phone. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say I “immerse” myself online. As organizations begin to hire these “kids” who connect, learn and play games online, there is clearly a skill set that enables GenY’ers to succeed in these environments. Could these virtual skills be advantageous in our organizations?

How about you? Do you immerse?