We are the Social Media Generation

When you look at the bottom of a Youtube video you will see a button that says "share". If you click on this a multitude of colorful icons appear. Some of these icons are instantly recognizable by almost everyone in the US today such as the twitter bird or the Facebook f and, yours truly, Blogger. Some of the others are a bit more underground such as digg, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, and two which had only Russian alphabet names. The variety and prevalence of social media is a phenomenon that is relatively new when compared to the internet, a baby when considering the age of technology, and almost non-existentially small when compared to the history of human innovation in communication. It is a phenomenon that is contained within our generation.

Call it generationatism or ageism or whatever you want, but people have a fierce pride in what their generations have accomplished. My parents still listen to rock & roll because their generation came up with it. Grandparents take fierce pride in the military accomplishments of their day and inventions. As our generation is a relatively new one, the one main contribution I think our generation has made so far is the advent of social media. It has already changed the face of the world and the way people connect and interact on a day-to-day basis. As a member of that tech-savvy, digital, generation I am extremely proud.

At the same time, I think most of social media is an absolute waste of time and I would never become a part of it, unless it becomes inconvenient for me NOT to be on it. It is wonderful for connecting those who we can't see on a day-to-day basis, I love Skype for my ability to keep in touch with my brother in Seattle. However, the majority of social media today is used for creating "statuses" for those who see us almost every day to see. It's lost the original purpose of connectivity, and exchanged for a hollow shell of public narcissism. That transition is something that I am absolutely not proud of when it comes to our generation.

I think there is still time to reclaim that one precious innovation that our generation has been responsible for so far. We can transform social media into a force for good, as some are already. We can make it something that will be valued and reminisced upon for centuries to come. It is up to our actions at the genesis of this trend, to make it a positive one. Let's leave our mark on history as our generation. Use social media to start a charity or connect to someone you haven't seen in years. Let's be proud of what we have created, lest we end up with some Frankenstinian nightmare.