I'd say technology hasn't gone too far enough!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo
None of it seems bad or wrong per se, but the clear objective of her interactions is "Look at me, judge me, validate me", she just doesn't realize it.
We basically spent a week just hanging out and talking, and one thing that really resonated with me is that she has typical career goals (be a teacher...), but would trade it all for fame. Not self-fulfillment, not influence to enact change, not even money....just fame. Celebrity is seen as the most powerful currency amongst her and (presumably) her peer group.
Was eye opening.
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Yeah been doing some research (more just getting immersed a bit, trying to come up with app ideas for a group of devs) into how stuff like that is used today and it certainly does seem a bit shocking.
However I still wonder how much of it's cause and how much effect.
Being driven by or desiring popularity is pretty much a defining trait for teens/pre-teens isn't it? Probably a whole species of tropes revolve around it. Social interactions in school and such involve popularity to a large degree, and part of growing up is moving past the self-centredness of youth (which a lot of people never do it seems).
So I kind of think social media is just another avenue to seek that attention as opposed to creating that desire.
That said anything to the exclusion of all else can be bad, and social media can be abused easier maybe than "real life" attempts to seek attention or popularity. It's easier to do things that a parent or other authority figure might otherwise stop to protect the kid from their own poor judgement.
I was looking at one app called younow, basically a live streaming app where people use their phone's camera to video themselves and broadcast it while other people watch and "like" the stream. The most popular ones seemed to be around music (people singing or DJing), and lots were just kids (the age demographic) sitting around talking and exchanging social media with viewers. But some were kids doing some pretty inadvisable things trying to increase the # of viewers at all costs. "OMG we've got 10 people viewing, quick do that again we need more viewers". When my kid's a little older I'd be very wary of him using an app like younow without supervision.
Even YouTube has the same thing, my kid doesn't have the same social goals as most kids his age (kids on the spectrum often don't), but he always asks me for a youtube channel so he can broadcast himself playing Minecraft. But when we were looking at other kids' youtube channels together there were some that I really wondered if their parents had any idea what their kids were doing.
Or all the anonymous and semi-anonymous apps out there, Snapchat etc. A lady at a guy I know's work said her daughter got some dick pics when she was putting out her Snapchat to anyone who asked.
I think parents are very ill equipped to understand what their kids are doing or can potentially do these days.
Has technology gone too far?
