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Today, while I was doing volunteer work in the student office at my high school, I was forced to endure incredibly obnoxious banter. My job is to run passes to students in various classrooms, which keeps me busy for the majority of the period. Unfortunately, there was a lack of demand today so I was forced to take in the endless array of worthless jargon spewing from the mouths of my "colleagues."
The main perpetrator was an overweight girl who repeatedly complained about her social wrong doings. "Like, you know, I had a really awkward time at this party last knight," She began. "I felt like the boy I was in to wasn't noticing me and like it's uncomfortable you know." Her complaints were so generic and so utterly unimportant that I wasn't sure why she thought it was necessary to vocalize them. However, my other derelict colleagues served as receptacles for her trivial complaints and seemed to be genuienly invested in them. I was put off by this, as well as the fact that all these people are college bound and not necessarily academically unintelligent.
Anyway, how this rant ties into the science and technology category is social networking. My colleagues CONSTANTLY talk about Facebook/Twitter to the point that I feel as if their lives revolve around it. "You know so and so tweeted this and it's really blown up. I believe it's been retweeted a (high number) of times and I'm really amazed. Oh and did I tell you someone friended me on Facebook who has the same last name as me?" Blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Anyway, I believe that while social networking can be efficient, it encompasses young people in horrific petty drama and incredibly trivial pursuits. I believe that high school/college superficiality or superficiality in general for that matter, has been greatly exacerbated as a result of these tools. I'm sure this has been discussed before, I was just particularly repulsed by this particular experience today.
What are your thoughts on the ever expanding bubble of social networking?
What are your thoughts on the ever expanding bubble of social networking?
I am glad I'm over 50 and online social networking is not relevant to my life.
In my world, social networking involves people I know in real life and we mainly interact in real time. You know, getting together face to face, talking on the phone, texting sometimes, doing actual stuff together.
I DO get Facebook and online interaction. I do, and I participate.
But it is not my primary mode of communication with people I know IRL and for that I am glad.
I don't think there is necessarily a problem with that as long as your not involved with the petty, trivial drama I mentioned. This issue mainly concerns young people who seem to be anchored to it in an unhealthy way.
I don't think there is necessarily a problem with that as long as your not involved with the petty, trivial drama I mentioned. This issue mainly concerns young people who seem to be anchored to it in an unhealthy way.
What I notice is many young people seem to spend all their time staring into a phone texting. You see it in stores, walking on the street, eating out, etc.
Instead of interacting with the people they're with.
I saw two young guys who sat across from each other in a booth at a restaurant and never talked to each other(well one did show something to the other guy on his phone), but other than that spent the whole time texting other people.
I really don't get it, why go out with people and spend all your time ignoring them and staring into a phone???
It doesn't control my life, I control it. FB, texting are tools for me to connect with people. I have noticed while younger nieces and nephews are visiting, they spend every second texting. I have been known to rip their cell phones from them and throw them in various directions. Kids don't know how to TALK any longer, it's all texting. Sad.
What I notice is many young people seem to spend all their time staring into a phone texting. You see it in stores, walking on the street, eating out, etc.
Instead of interacting with the people they're with.
I saw two young guys who sat across from each other in a booth at a restaurant and never talked to each other(well one did show something to the other guy on his phone), but other than that spent the whole time texting other people.
I really don't get it, why go out with people and spend all your time ignoring them and staring into a phone???
That's simply your observation, which is pretty far from the truth. I'm 25, I wear headphones all day and most of the people my age wear headphones. I have no problem starting conversations with people. Just because it looks like we don't talk to people, doesn't mean we don't.
You don't know someone else's situation by looking at them. Maybe the two friends didn't feel like talking to eachother at the time? Maybe they were texting people to find out plans for the night?
I think people are rather hysterical about social media, texting and technology. At the end of the day, the normal ones still talk to people and are still outgoing. Society isn't being ruined.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Pettiness and triviality, as well as banal banter pre-dated social media. Social media is merely another way to express this. Take it for what it is, a convenient way to connect with people. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Socialising has just moved more into the electronic realm, we still communicate with emotions the way we've always done, it's just evolved.
Naturally the offensive party is overweight:>)
You are not included in their chatter about what is importent in their lives (and be it boys not paying attention which is part of HS culture - watch Grease) and are not part of their network. Did you read what you wrote about your fellow students?
I don't believe in pearl-clutching about "kids these days."
Social capital has always been important to teens. The medium changes.
Part of a parent's job is to not let those superficial but natural tendencies take priority in their kids' lives.
Having said that, mass media definitely perpetrates the trivial, celebrity-obsessed culture. It's easy, and the entertainment equivalent of junk food. I remember one of the best parts about watching TV AFTER 9/11 was the fact that programs stopped showing anything TMZ-related. It was so nice not to hear about Britney Spears.
Even so, I'm not going to demonize a generation based on their fads. It's my job as a mom to help my kids navigate that stuff without being too influenced by it.
I, too, am like chiroptera, over 50, and not caught up in the mainstream Twitter, Facebook, etc. frenzy that seems to inundate the world today. We have it on our computer, but it is something my wife peruses like someone that might get caught up on " soap operas" back in the day. Actually, it was how she found out her baby sister passed away last month, since her neice seems to chronicle every move she makes in life on Facebook, and instead of calling eveyone, assumed everybody watched her posts on Facebook, and so posted her Mother's demise for all to see. A very sad commentary on society, if you ask me. We have lost a bit of our humanity when an electronic stream of words on a screen take the place of a compassionate voice, or a face to face talk. Another thing that concerns me on these social media sites is the grammatical train wrecks people have on there. They use "u" instead of " you". Instead of "you're" it is " ur", "idk" for" I don't know," and the list goes on, and on. I can only hope that the next generation doesn't forget the power, and beauty that the English language holds when written grammaticaly correct, eloquently, and punctuated properly, and that words aren't something that are merely "spat" out to get an idea across, or talk about someone.
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