Hmm, anyone watching this right now? I may add some thoughts below as watching it..
Read the article .. but even in the first five minutes it seems to be taking the “this has never happened before” … I’ve just been looking back at my ‘Round the World’ travels from 2007/8, and I took better selfies then that I do now…
I do think there are increased pressures, but these pressures (including what women look like, etc.) emerge from cultural pressures – the technology amplifies that …
I am still interested in the difference that “the digital” (a term that can be challenged, is there any such thing as ‘the’ digital, rather than a series of ‘digital’?) can/has made.
I have a particular interest in body image, etc. so this young lad offers an interesting perspective, and I’ve seen many stories similar, although we previously blamed magazines, etc… Media Studies research has largely disputed that violent videos cause violence (those with a propensity for violence are more likely to choose them), so is there something particularly different about social media?
Aric Sigmun discussing the ‘Social Comparison Process‘, and how much the digital means that there are now so many people to compare ourselves too. A look at the ‘Self-Esteem Team‘ (yes, when someone offers a compliment say ‘Thanks’, rather than “oh, it only cost £5”).
Cyber-bullying .. had to talk about this quite a bit recently. I still find it a big challenge, as I’m not sure there are particularly easy answers, especially once the bullying has happened, although I encourage a lot of groups to help people create a positive culture before it happens.
Lots of thought about teenagers spending ‘too long’ on the phone… surely previously it was the TV, etc. and when I grew up without a TV, I do believe I was regarded as spending too long reading (I’d have to put the book down for dinner, and continued trying to read it in the dark!).
Yes .. not necessarily ‘limiting’ use, but help them understand how to use it positively and well. People will feel lost/disconnected because some of the things we may have done are not done, but those kind of activities would creep in … (p180/1 from my book):
As technology has affected our leisure time, so it also makes it more difficult for teenagers and adults to break off from other aspects of life, including work. Professor Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together, believes that digital media affect our ability to give full, undistracted attention to each other or to our thoughts. She claims that lack of disconnected downtime disrupts ties to other people and adds emotional stress. In conversation with eighteen-year-olds, she asked when they last were able to be free of interruptions, but they didn’t see digital media as interruptions but as the beginning of connections. Research indicates that a large number of teenagers would love to be able to unplug, especially as they feel that their online communications are being so heavily monitored. A significant number, however, said that this would make them feel more stressed, because they have invested so much time in their “digital space”, and even more because their parents fear letting them out of the door.
Some have tested extreme detoxes. Susan Maushart, writing for the Daily Mail, undertook a six-month “technology blackout” for her entire family, which she viewed as a consciousness- raising exercise rather than a long-term strategy. Paul Millar, a technology journalist, disconnected from the internet for a year but found that, after the initial feeling of “freedom”, he picked up other bad habits. He ignored his post and his friends, allowed the dust to gather on his exercise equipment, failed to turn boredom into creativity, and sat and did nothing. On analysing this for an article for The Verge magazine, he was able to make more informed technology choices once he reconnected.
Lots of talk about ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital immigrants’, and the idea of real/virtual … all ideas trying to ‘reject’… I’d like to see the report of 1000+ interviewed. The core is that not everyone of ‘an age’ does the same thing .. I know younger kids who aren’t interested, and pensioners who use platforms with the best of them…
See my book Raising Children in a Digital Age: Enjoying the Best, Avoiding the Worst
