I was born at what would be considered the end of my "generation". My birth year has me falling into Generation Y. Gen Y spans from just before 1980 up to around 1995. I missed what is considered Gen Z by 4 measly years. You can spend hours on the internet researching the social, economical, and technological differences of Gen X, Y, and Z. Having the internet has allowed us to connect generations in a way that we can't always fully understand. Things like Facebook and Twitter allow us to now share whatever details of our lives we choose to disclose. While the generation gap is apparent on these social media outlets, it is interesting how all of them seem to share one common trait: social media is supposed to be your life.
I admit that I am somewhat guilty of this crime. If someone gets married and they don't post any wedding pictures within a month I start to get an itch. Why aren't they posting pictures? I want to see the dress. I want to see the cake. I have to step back and remember that I am not entitled to this information because we are Facebook friends. It is a privilege.
This is where I notice a generation gap. Gen X typically wants to be able to get information from you. These are generally our parents, relatives, and close family friends. They typically don't post a lot on their own accounts. I cannot express how deeply disturbed I get when I hear things like, "Well why haven't you posted that on Facebook yet? What are the details!?" I know I'm 22. I know Facebook is supposed to be "my thing". I'm supposed to post pictures of my Pumpkin Spice Lattes and comment every day on how beautiful the fall weather is. Now that I'm pregnant people expect ultra sounds, frequent updates, and belly bump pictures. Truthfully, I don't find it necessary to share all of this information. Gen X is a generation of communicators. That's where this urge to "Facebook stalk" comes from. It's the new way for them to try and communicate with Gen Y and Gen Z. Here's my plea to the Gen Xers: if we don't post it, you can always nicely ask about it in a phone call or e-mail. Not all of us are Facebook junkies.
Gen Y and Z are entitled in an entirely different way. We generally put everything on Facebook and Twitter. We expect people to "Like" it, comment on it, or "re-tweet" it. We expect you to notice it. There is an extreme lack of personal communication. "Didn't get the party invite? Well, I put it on Twitter and Facebook." We are expected to be linked in and checking our social media every single time of the day! People air out their dirty laundry on social media. It drives me absolutely nuts! However it's hard to decide which irks me more: people who blatantly air things out, or people who give hints that something is bothering them...which is just fishing for comments. I have actually had someone say to my face, "uhg, it's too much to explain this drama. Just check my Facebook feed, I explained it all on there." Really? Has our generation actually forgotten how to have a conversation in person? Can you not just explain to me what is bothering you without a keyboard? I cannot express how bothersome it is to try and have a conversation with someone my age, and they are on Facebook. Ignoring me. It might not bother me so much if I didn't immediately get lumped into that category because of my age.
I know, I know. This post has been somewhat of a rant. However, it comes from an honest place. We are living our lives on our social media.We expect those around us to do the same, and most of us are guilty. I know that I am! We have lives. We are breathing, living beings. We don't need to be plugged in. We should enjoy the moments we are given with the people around us. We should appreciate the art of intelligent conversation. Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/whatever other social media should be a tool to help us stay connected. It shouldn't be our only connection.
No comments:
Post a Comment