Here’s Looking At You, Kids

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  Posted By: itcanneverbe @ 04/09/2008 4:39:11 PM

  I am part of the "look at me" generation. I would have to say that the computer is causing us to have very poor people skills. If I can talk to my friend online, or watch people through videos on youtube, I do not gain any person to person contact. This will only hinder you later on in the real world, wherebeing able to interact with a person is an important skill. While talking in person I have to be aware of my body language and tone of voice, where as on the computer I can lie completly to someone's face and they would have no "cues" to tell them otherwise. I know that I am addicted to facebook and whenever I go out with friends I spend extra time to get ready. This extra time is to protect me the ridicule I may receive from an unflattering picture being posted. And I have no control over it, and I do not have the power to take down a photo of me.
  There are also many positive aspects to being on the computer as well. I can keep in touch with friends in different parts of the world and I have used my facebook account more then once to swap pictures with relatives. It has helped us become closer, and keeps us all up to date on the different adventures in our lives. It also allows me to learn about different cultures and I am able to travel the world without leaving my room.
  There are both positive and negative aspects to this generation being so surrounded by technology, but not everyone is being swept up in the falsehood of it all. Some people do use it for good, and are potraying their real self. I guess it is up to ourselves to sort through it all and decide for ourselves.

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  Posted By: coolhandjohnny @ 03/29/2008 8:32:00 PM

  as part of the "look at me" generation (born 1984), i can say, yes. we can have trusting and meaningful relationships. things like youtube, which i both watch and am watched on, are just a different way to relate to friends, and also a way to reach people you would NEVER otherwise see. i can go on youtube and in a few minutes get a taste of what it is to be from another country, another ethnicity, another culture. i can go on and see the way others talk, act, and think.
  instead of being worried it's gonna make us "hollow," a far more interesting study would be what it's like to be living in an age where to experience italy, all i have to do is go to my computer. not to mention, you can ask people questions to learn more about them and they answer you in video. you get all the things you get from actual "real life" interaction but without actually siting in the same room. gestures, tones of voice, it's all there on your computer screen. do a study on the effects of THAT! now that's fascinating. which i suppose is why we do it.

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  Posted By: beekss @ 03/26/2008 1:23:56 AM

  I'm writing a thesis paper and making paintings based on this topic at the moment, and found this article interesting. Addressing mastery is something that everyone must go through at some point in their life, but I think that the addition of life online has made this much more complicated for children today. The internet and camera's only give the subject the illusion of mastery over their projected image, but once that image is out of their hands and on the web, or television, the interpretations of those images, depending on the context, are entirely in the hands of the audience.