7 years ago
1
This is what it's like to grow up in the age of likes, lols and longing
She slides into the car, and even before she buckles her seat belt, her phone is alight in her hands. A 13-year-old girl after a day of eighth grade. She says hello. Her au pair asks, “Ready to go?” She doesn’t respond, her thumb on Instagram. A Barbara Walters meme is on the screen. She scrolls, and another meme appears. Then another meme, and she closes the app. She opens BuzzFeed. There’s a story about Florida Gov. Rick Scott, which she scrolls past to get to a story about Janet Jackson...
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http://www.washingtonpost.com
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I read the article and I left think, "Well... OK." I feel like the author thought they were making a grander point than they were actually making. They write as if it is a scathing critique of Generation Z, when it really just feels like a pandering piece taking advantage of a child's social media addiction. And I would even hesitate to call it a social media addiction. She was a 13 year old girl for Christ's sake. That has always been a period of transition from dependant child to independant teenager. That age group has been like that far before the advent of social media. The age group is shallow, media-addicted, and angsty. The only difference is that now all three of those are possible with phones and the internet. Lastly, the girl just lost her mother. I can't speak for everybody, but when I've lost family, I tend to spend more time at home and on social media. It's hard to face the world with grief, and social media can provide a middle ground. I do think that social media addiction is a problem, but this article just reeked of "holier-than-thou" to me.
On a side note, do kids really care about snapchat scores? I have never even looked at mine....