From "digital natives" to "digital cretins": Youth and digital divides

In this paper, the author analyzes the phenomena of the first-level, second-level and third-level digital divide in the context of generations "digitalized from birth", with a focus on individual differences in the digital literacy of young people - the second-level digital divide. At the beginning of the 21st century, with the increasing availability of digital technology and the Internet, there is a gradual reduction of the digital divide - in terms of the availability of digital technologies, but, judging by empirical findings, it is also deepening - in terms of the digital literacy of young people and the benefits of using technology in everyday life. Despite this, the discourse about young people as "digital natives", after two decades since its appearance, is still present, especially in the media and in non-academic context. On the other hand, in recent years, under the cover of "moral panic", fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increasingly popular discourse about young people as "digital cretins", who, thanks to the intensive use of the Internet and "have fun until death" are becoming more and more "shallow", threatening to collapse the civilizational heritage of human society. Scientists and researchers have a complex task that requires a nuanced theoretical approach, devoid of "techno-utopian" and "techno-pessimistic" predictions.