Social Media and the New Generation
August 27th 2009 -
At any given moment people are buying, selling, learning, flirting, and gossiping, all without leaving the comfort of their living room couch. The digital age is upon us and social media sites like Facebook have exploded over the past few years with unprecedented growth rates. Neilson Wire reports that in the U.S. alone total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83% year-over-year, with total minutes on sites like Facebook increasing by nearly 700% and reaching over 200 million users. Twitter’s growth rate (one of the newest social networking platforms) has catapulted to a whopping 1,382% for total minutes spent on the popular site.
What does this mean for our youth? Unlike any generation before them, the Internet has become an integral part of their social landscape. The methods in which they form relationships, communicate, and participate in one another’s lives are often hinged on social networking. We’re experiencing a generation of youth where online relationships are commonplace and woven into the social fabric of daily life even during childhood. It’s ABC’s, learn to ride a bike, and create your first Facebook profile.
Staples of youth expression were once clothes, music, and sports. Now we can add to it the “profile.” Ask any 14 year old girl who can’t wait to upload her hot birthday pics for her latest crush to find. Listen to a group of middle school children for just a few minutes and you are bound to hear phrases like “He wrote on my page,” or “she posted on my wall” or “he changed his relationship status.” With the introduction of social media, we get the same old stories, but on a much more public and powerful platform. The same problems arise, but this time they are much more publicized. Take a look at just a few of the headlines and you’ll see the inherent problems.
Teen fired for calling job ‘boring’ on facebook
MySpace Cruel Prank leads to teen suicide
Teen Sues Facebook, Classmates for Alleged Cyber Bullying Incident
…and those are just a few. These articles haven’t touched on any of the safety issues presented by social media sites. Pull up any public profile and find age, location, mood, and an array of photos. From cyber-bullying to cyber-stalking, everything we had to be cautious of in “real life” is just as applicable online, only this time the bullying is intensified, the teasing is publicized, and the whereabouts of your children are sometimes only a click away.
This generation is unique because they are the first to experience social media during adolescence. While there are many adults well versed in social media, there are still a large percentage of parents who are clueless when it comes to what’s happening online. The problem that arises is that we have a generation of children who know and understand the technology, but may not have the developed the social skills and judgment necessary to utilize this technology safely and appropriately. By in large their social media usage goes unchecked.
For this reason, it is essential to bridge the technological gap between parents and their tech savvy children. Parents need to be involved in the lives of their children, and in this day and age that involvement includes social networking. Experts encourage parents to have profiles, know the technology, and understand the social landscape. It is essential that parents know how to monitor and implement security settings for younger children. Parents need to know what information about their children is accessible and how to deal with online bullying. Children need to be taught what is and isn’t acceptable behavior in the digital world as well as the real one.
Social networking is not going away. Employers are looking to hire candidates who are “social media savvy” and proficient on sites like Facebook and Twitter. It’s the new way to network, find jobs, and even learn. Many universities are integrating social networking into their educational landscapes with professors now holding Facebook office hours, online class lectures and virtual study groups. We would be negligent to let this next generation fall through the cracks by teaching them the technology and not the principals.
For more information on social networking or to find out more about programs designed to bridge the technological gap between children and parents please contact New City Entertainment.
written by Jillian Gilbert
Tags: communicate, cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, digital age, Facebook, Jillian Gilbert, monitor, New City Entertainment, new generation, online relationships, parents, profile, relationship status, security settings, social landscape, social media, social networking, social skills, technological gap, teen suicide, teens, tweens, twitter
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Rob Gokee Says:
September 7th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Well written, and very true. Thanks for the insight!