When you think of the word "friend" what do you think of? A Facebook friend? Twitter follower? A person you went to high school with? Someone you talk to every day? The definition of "friend" is so easily altered depending on everyone's experiences. Harris talks about how children these days are "addicted to each other" and it is no different than children years ago hanging out in the mall. I often hear people say that it is not "normal" for kids and teens to be so deeply involved with social media. However, I would have to disagree, I think that this is what is "normal" for kids these days. Honestly if this technology was available when those critics were children they would have used it the exact same way. The interesting thing about technology and internet is that it is always updating and advancing, thus creating more opportunities to make our lives easier, kids included. If I can send a text message in a matter of 15 second, why would I send a letter? I understand everyone is entitled to their opinion on social media. However, I think that it is normal for the internet to be an every day part of children's lives. This is the world we live in today and if you try to fight it, ultimately you will get left behind. Children and teens need to make up their own definitions of friendship for their personal social group, or maybe it can be determined that there are different kinds of friendships. The main point that I am trying to get at is just because the internet provides children with different ways of communication, this does not equal it being wrong
Some good points here!
ReplyDeleteOf course, "real life" is a contested term, isn't it? With the internet so much a part of everyone's life, it kind of is "real life." This is too big a thing to settle in blog comments (biggest understatement ever?), but it is interesting to think about!
I completely agree with your statement that "if this technology was available when those critics were children they would have used it the exact same way." Ultimately, I think this is the larger point of McCulloch's book. She is trying to bridge the gap between those critics' assumptions and the younger generations who feel judged no matter what they do. Great post!
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