The Social Dilemma

[razz]

https://painterskeys.com/
In Director Jeff Orlowski’s 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma, he reveals that access to to the internet on handheld devices beginning in 1996 coincided with millennials entering grade school, producing a generation unable to distinguish between their online social currency and personas and in-real-life experiences.

While I have not viewed this documentary, I was struck by this impact of the internet on young people. It may explain the difference between generations and their perception of the internet and its importance. While I enjoy the internet as a useful tool, it serves my needs rather than defines me or my identity as this impact on youth seems to indicate.

Do you agree with the underlined portion above? Is it cause for concern about this generation and the subsequent ones, the future of education, our communities, our world?

[happystuff]

I don't have an answer at this point, but your post made me think about the number of people I know who "gave up" social networks for Lent about two years ago. So many of them went back to it before the Lenten period was over and others actually suffered from "withdraw".

[ApatheticNoMore]

Millennials seem plenty astute, how many older than them are just addicted to t.v. instead of social media? How is that any better?

Now happy is another matter, and social media may indeed add to unhappiness, but it's not the only thing adding to unhappiness.

[LDAHL]

When I was a young person, you never heard individuals refer to their “brand”. I’m not sure what that means exactly, except a sort of media-based persona you use to market yourself. Sort of an artificially created and curated reputation.

Whether that’s a good thing or a bad one, I’m probably too much of a dinosaur to judge.

[JaneV2.0]

I hate that "brand" thing as well. I first heard about it in college, 20-some years ago.
I guess I'm just a generic product; no cachet here. Oh well.

[ApatheticNoMore]

20 some years ago sounds about right, we were supposed to "brand" ourselves, instead of having job security see. I mean I suppose "influencers" are trying to make a living on nothing but brand fumes, so they are the idea reduced to it's ultimate absurd essence, where only vapor is left (I mean we were told to brand ourselves so we could find employment not for the brand to be our employment).

But the idea that everyone is supposed to turn into a brand is older that that. We can't rely on employment being stable so we constantly have to be creating a brand, one may have skillsets yes, but that's a dime a dozen, we need a brand, I guess a linked-in is a best attempt, but one may not be so unique a snowflake as all that.

[LDAHL]

I hate that "brand" thing as well. I first heard about it in college, 20-some years ago.
I guess I'm just a generic product; no cachet here. Oh well.

That’s a good point. I think your identity, especially your public or social identity used to be a much simpler thing with fewer parameters. Everybody wears certain masks, but it seems to be a much more involved process now.

While old guys like me were using the net as a sort of encyclopedia, post office and storefront, the fresher generations seemed to be using it as a means of personality development and social interaction. Whether that is more or less honest or healthy than pre-net days I don’t know.

[razz]

Growing up I was fairly isolated so a real country mouse when I went to the big city. I didn't know that bad people exist, harmful stuff happens and found out through some bad experiences that could have affected my life permanently. Fortunately, some 'angels' came by and rescued me at the right time. I made sure that our kids were not so naive but they had their challenges.
My concern is that all these issues in real life still exist and now there are all these artificial challenges being added to the mix. Not saying that there are not marvellous benefits as well but - are our youngsters now living in an artificial world with the internet identity without checks and balances of observations and observers that are available in real life.
Is this part of the challenge to the authority of the Big Tech now going on in the legal realm?

[catherine]

Yes, "branding" is done for business and for personal purposes. You figure out what specific personal cues are going to project what you want to tell other people about yourself. That's why hippies had long hair, why goths wore black, why golfers wear IZOD.

But with social media, it gets so much more complex. At least in person, someone might assume you're a hippie but then they see you IRL in living color and get a more nuanced picture of your personality. On social media, you completely curate your image. You wind up very one-dimensional. That's OK for mature adults I guess. I have friends who know the real me. But for young people whose relationships are going to be predominantly based on projections of pieces of their personalities, that can't be good. I'm so glad my kids are not kids anymore

Here is the trailer for Social Dilemma

https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224

[iris lilies]

On one of the forums I read, probably it was Mr. Money mustache, there were posts about kids in school who want to be YouTube stars. Apparently that is such a common thought that one teacher designed a unit in her careers course about being a YouTube influencer. Good god.

Did my teachers design a unit about being Hollywood starlets, Sears catalog fashion models, or professional sports players on B and C teams? No they did not.