The Internet and the Generation Gap

The difference between generations varies depending largely on the culture and ideologies that define them. The political world of Generation X helped to mold the minds of those born during the 1960’s and 70’s. Generation Y was known as the first generation to really age with increasing knowledge in developing technologies. The latest age group, those born since the early 1990’s, is no exception. The children that compromise this “Generation Z” have lived their entire lives with the internet and incredibly advanced computers and phones.


It is an interesting notion that some teenagers at present were not alive without cell phones. As a child of the 1980’s, I can remember the importance of phone booths and beepers. There was a stark moment of realization when I realized what a simple beeper could do. Suddenly code numbers became must-know information. It was a way to be cool. It was a way to communicate secret information; everyone who was anyone knew the language – except parents. It’s in this sense that I can sympathize with the kids growing up today. I realize the fears and worries of parents feeling helpless in a fast evolving world that they have little to no control over. Child predators are real and they will not go away, but children for better or worse are using this technology that they have grown with as a way of expressing themselves and rebelling in their youth.



My sympathies end short of total internet endorsement, however, as the technology that teenagers posses now seems to be both their identity and their crutch. It seems impossible to walk through a city, mall or college campus without colliding with someone whose head is buried in their iPhone. Spending endless hours on Facebook updating your status and clicking through pictures is a waste of time bordering on sloth. In my neighborhood, there is rarely a stickball game and fields that seem of perfect length for a soccer pitch stay abandoned.

Please do not get me wrong, I see the positives of this internet age. Information at your fingertips really means a wealth of knowledge sitting right at your desk. It just appears that the web is having the opposite effect; it is driving a wedge between groups of people. Older generations acknowledge the internet as a tool which, when used effectively, yields information and power. Today’s teens see nothing but an escape and a way to maintain constant media stimulation.

MMORPG and Their Impact

At one time, I was a gamer. Anyone with knowledge of MMORPGs can easily spend hours standing on their soapbox evangelizing the benefits of increased social interaction of the disillusioned and disenfranchised. The social networking aspect of these games is an ever-present fabric of the society that exists when hundreds of thousands of people play together simultaneously.

Bonding between people is amazingly easy. For those that have trouble with people skills in the real world, the fantasy realm of online life serves as liberation from public bonds. An online person doesn’t like you? Change your avatars name, race, faction, guild, etc. Not so easy in the real world. In a nation where time is of the most valuable of resources, a gamer can connect with hundreds of his/her closest allies in minutes of logging on and stay connected to them through in game communication systems, like a guild chat, regardless of what their character is actually doing in-game. From my own experiences, I have friends that live in Australia and Germany. In the most conservative sense I would never have been able to foster a real friendship with someone from a different country, let alone a separate continent close to 10,000 miles away, without learning a new language fluently and participating in some sort of foreign relations job field. The social networking abilities of these games are astounding.


In a different sense, the impact the computer has on some people is very interesting in a different way. The fact that you are in front of a screen and not in actual view of a living person changes certain aspects of people’s mental behavior. Rational, benign in daily public view gives way to irrational hate-speech and warmongering when the fear of personal consequence is lifted. It is a bizarre empowerment. Those that have little confidence with others socially turn into the most brazen offenders online. Social mechanics that we would normally hold in respect, at the very least subconsciously, are often brushed aside on purpose. Take a look.



Some experts may disagree with the identity being the true culprit, but there is no dodging the difference in online and real life behavior

Besides the social aspects, a burgeoning economy awaits those who know to look. I personally know people who have invested 20 – 30 man hours leveling an avatar just to sell it off for profit. Those more attached to their creations can spend weekends doing repetitive, and often menial, tasks to acquire in-game currency which is then supplied to an online site that trades real world money for the transfer of the in-game dollars from account to account. No wonder economists look at games like World of Warcraft as models for existing forms of economic systems. All due to 10 million people who interact with each other over the internet.

The Obama Campaign and the New Use of the Internet

In the wake of sensational change in American it is not surprising that technology is a central issue. With demographics from all walks of life becoming more functional with the online world it was a mere matter of time. Perhaps the greatest influence can be seen, at least the greatest influence that can be seen so publicly, is the effectual use of social networking by the Obama campaign during the last election. The use of the internet won Obama decisive victories during the primaries and contributed heavily to his contribution barnstorming, both of which upended historical precedent.



In the wake of the election, however, a more interesting notion is seemingly surfacing. American politicians may finally be witnessing the turn of the tide in the national war for the young person vote. The young voter has long persisted as the bane of American politicians. Politics have long been regarded as mature man’s game, once educational trials and the tribulations of establishing a career had sorted themselves out. Younger people were not interested, they had other things on their mind...




But, as the generation of young Americans born into the technological age mature, their affinity to the internet is the key to waking potentially slumbering difference makers. It is obvious how easy information is to obtain thanks to the web, but it is what you can do with the information that matters. Pledge drives, donations through PayPal, and websites devoted to younger voters look to empower the masses of eligible, but previously uninterested, twenty-somethings.