Let’s face it. Social media and technology have become one of the most influential things in history. It has not only made my later teen years consumed by cell phones, laptops, and other electronics, but I think it has also changed the kids of today’s society and the generations to come. I am forever grateful that social media did not become a huge part of my life really until I was in high school, but for the kids growing up in today’s society, well, I worry for them. I remember going from my flip phone in middle school, where I could only text and call people, to getting an Iphone sophomore year that had every gadget you could think of on it. Now I see fifth graders carrying around more upgraded versions of phones than what I even have! I swear I get requests every day from my sister’s friends and classmates in middle school who want to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or even want to be my friend on Facebook. Honestly, social media just amazes me because kids nowadays have such different childhoods than what I grew up with. That is why I am thankful I grew up before the Age of Social Media and Technology.
As a kid, I remember being outside whenever I possibly could. I would wake up and ask my mom to go out, and she would not see me until it was time for dinner. That is how it was for everyone. If we wanted to go to a friends’ house, well then you had to call them on their home phone. Their parents would probably pick up the phone, and so you would have to ask if so and so was home, which was always an awkward thing. If we wanted to keep up with what our friends were doing, we logged onto Webkinz and chatted with them, or we communicated through AIM. If we wanted to go for a walk or bike ride around town, for the most part it was actually safe to do so. Our flip phones that we all got in middle school lasted us about two days of battery life, before we even had to charge them. The only music we had was through our walkmans or our Hitclips. Sure, we had electronics, no doubt about that. The difference between back then and today though is the limited amount of time our parents would actually let us use them. We got to check our Myspace or Webkinz if we finished all our homework, and our parents basically wrote down every username and password, so they could check on the sites we were using. It was so different back then. The kids who were born before the 2000’s are the last generation of kids that lived before technology expanded to what it is today.
It makes me worried for the generations to come. I do know what it is like to be addicted to all the technology today because I am living in this society, but it is not the same one that I was brought up in. Kids do not know how to communicate the same way as we did back then. Everything can be sent and received in less than a minute, and sure that is great, but people do not talk face to face as much anymore with the advancements of technology and social media. Kids worry more about their image because they see what the older kids are wearing, doing, and how they are acting, which only influences the younger kids to act the same way.
When I was in middle school, I could not even tell you what the high schoolers were wearing at that time. I know I was wearing Aeropostale shirts and bootcut jeans basically everyday, but who knows what the older kids were wearing! Now though, middle schoolers see all of the posts on social media of the latest trends and fads, and they try their hardest to keep up. I feel as though this only creates a society that is more worried about their image than anything else. There is so much pressure for likes, popularity, and fitting in that kids are starting to become way harsher on themselves. I know even with me as an adult, I get intimidated by the younger kids because they are so up to date on the latest trends. I cannot imagine how this must feel as a middle schooler trying to find their place. Middle school was already rough enough as it is without all the technology, and I can only picture how bad it has gotten since then.
Kids nowadays also do not know what it is like to have patience. Technology and social media has made it so easy to do everything in a quick manner, but it was so different when I grew up. If we wanted to watch a VCR movie, we had to rewind the entire movie to be able to watch it. Communicating with our friends was a much more difficult task because most of us only had home phones. We actually had to wait for the next song to play on the radio because it is not like Spotify and Pandora were a thing back then. We also did not have read receipts when we sent and received texts, so you had to patiently wait for your friends to reply, not knowing if they have even seen the text message or not.
Of course there are a lot of similarities too between my generation and the generations growing up today, but in terms of social media and technology, it is like a whole different world. I just hope that technology does not do much more damage to the kids of today because I do not understand how their childhood’s could be any fun if they are constantly glued to their cell phones and devices. I know I will forever cherish the memories I have from being born in the 90’s, and I will pray for the generations to come. Long live and rest in peace Skip-its, Walkmans, Hitclips, AIM, Gameboys, Furbys, Lisa Frank, Myspace, Webkinz, Snap Bracelets, original Disney Channel movies, Easy Bake Ovens, and Flip phones, you will be greatly missed.
