Based on the reading, “Its Complicated”, teens whom are raised in a technological environment are considered “digital natives”. But adults are considered “digital immigrants” because they weren’t raised in a technological environment and were not raised to adapt with technology at a young age. As we see now kids at the age of 3 are holding tablets and downloading apps. Where as for example my mom has a hard time accessing and using apps on my phone. I remember having blackboards and eraser boards. Then around middle school the projector was brought about. Then around high school, we used smart boards. So for me its easy to adapt to the changes and upgrades in technology. Although I don’t use social media networks because, I find it to have a more negative than positive impact. But that’s my opinion not a fact. Many teens suffer from social media and have been enslaved to being someone they aren’t, just to fit in the society we are in. In the text, it states “The rhetoric of “digital natives,” far from being useful, is often a distraction to understanding the challenges that youth face in a networked world. ” Which is true, the youth does face a lot in this social digital world called “social media”.
Also, in the documentary, the beginning starts with teens saying all they want is to be “liked” and social networks make money off of them. And the “like”, “tweet”, “follow”, “friends”, the more a teen has these the better they feel. So it has become a currency, like stated in the documentary. The more you have these the richer you feel and the more popular and famous you get. But most of all social media gives teens a voice and makes them feel like the exist. Which is a good thing, when it comes to current conflicts such as teachers having guns. The youth has been active on social media and made their voices heard. And surprisingly, the youth have more power to change than adults. The youth is savvy, ambitious, creative, and strong and social media is their key.
What was scary and awing was when around 48 minutes in the video, “Generation Like” , they relate the youth and sponsors like the movie “The Hunger Games”. As in the hidden game masters in the Hunger Games is social media. And the sponsors are big market companies. And that it rips people apart, and being put in an arena to be forced to survive on their own. And that having having ratings promotes you to having sponsors. In order to get high ratings and to stay alive you need to get people to like you. This is dangerous, this is what causes most of the youth to be enslaved without acknowledging that they are even being consumers and marketers.
