Modern Generation: from Human Bonds to Screen Ties

The New Generation and Technology’s Grip

Generations are evolving by the minute, allowing technology to grow innovatively and exponentially, allowing more people to become more connected with their smartphones. Creating a personal connection with your phone can contribute to many complications with the body and brain, like separation anxiety, impairment of sleep patterns, and adverse development of social skills. Jean M. Twenge discusses how smartphones destroyed the post-millennial and iGen in her article using Nostalgia as a tool for the past, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? Concentrating on the psychological distress that both those generations are experiencing.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Gladwell, in “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted,” dwells upon the technological revolution that has occurred in the present day and how it affects how modern-day society interacts. Both writers consider how technology has affected their readers and how smartphones have influenced human communication because of social media platforms and fast-paced communication. Even though these writers constantly use the past as a precedent as to why these problems happen, Twenge and Gladwell both introduce the use of Nostalgia, using its importance to compare the past to the present, allowing the rise of social media to affect how we communicate with one another daily.

Nostalgia in the Digital Era

When one experiences the thought of Nostalgia, one automatically thinks the meaning of it is just a sentimental longing for the past or a yearning of feeling. In reality, there are so many ways to use Nostalgia. It does not always have to mean the definition you see on the Internet, like why someone feels nostalgic. In Twenge’s case, she uses Nostalgia as a tool for her readers to understand the present, not because she misses how life was without technology. Twenge states, “The aim of the generational study, however, is not to succumb to nostalgia for the way things used to be; it is to understand how they are now” (Twenge 4).

In Twenge’s article, she can introduce readers to new ideas about why smartphones are initiating these concerns toward the generations. She can incorporate different facts from the early 2000s that support her controversial argument, evidently establishing a comparison between today’s generation and the earlier eras. Gladwell introduces the way he uses Nostalgia by using the civil rights movement to explain the use of new tools being developed in the present day, redefining what it means to be a social activist. The kind of activism associated with social media today is the difference between “strong ties” and “weak ties” with people. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are websites based on weak ties, being friends with people one will probably never meet.

The Strength of Ties in Social Activism

The difference Gladwell explains from the early 1960s to now is that in the 1960s, high-risk activism was a “strong-tie” phenomenon. The power and strength generated from close personal ties allow society to engage and encourage one another to participate in the act rather than sitting in your room and taking action through a computer screen. “As the historian Robert Darnton has written, “the marvels of communication technology in the present have produced a false consciousness about the past – even a sense that communication has no history, or had nothing of importance to consider before the days of television and the internet.” (Gladwell 3)

Gladwell romanticizes his past with false consciousness, and he is hoping for power for activism- but it is something that was never able to sustain power. Gladwell uses his Nostalgia to stop him from producing a false consciousness. Even though modern-day society sees social activism as an everyday problem, knowing that it may never meet the expression’s deeper meaning, we still pretend to act like a retweet or like it can change the world.

Generational changes every year sometimes lead to positive and negative effects on one’s community. As the generations grow, society becomes more of a problem due to the rise of technology. Technology creates a virtual world for kids, allowing them to meet new people and join chats with people they have never met before. It is nice to talk to others, but do you know who you are talking to? Twenge states, “Parenting styles continue to change, as do school curricula and culture, and these things matter. However, the twin rise of the smartphone and social media has caused an earthquake of a magnitude we have not seen in a very long time, if ever” (Twenge 4). This creates a more significant concern for parents to be more vigilant when letting their children do whatever they want.

Twenge made a point through her time of age and how she compared it to today’s actions. Gladwell states, “No one should go anywhere alone, but certainly not in an automobile and certainly not at night” (Gladwell 4). Nowadays, companies are creating smartphone apps that connect riders with drivers. Allowing anyone of any age to ride in a stranger’s car who services the company. Growing up, we were taught not to go into a stranger’s car, but now I am encouraged to use this type of mobile app if needed.

Emotional Disconnect in the Internet Age

Twenge emphasizes the lack of communication that iGen and post-millennials are developing because half of the generation is embedded in their phone. The constant presence of smartphones affects our day-to-day human contact with one another. Expressing how we feel, or even communicating through social media, has become a significant social norm today. This creates a blockage towards the emotional connections between people when human connectivity is what we need. Twenge states through Athena,” It hurts.” “It hurts. I know my parents’ generation did not do that. I could be talking about something super important to me, and they would not even be listening” (Twenge 19).

Social support not only helps improve a person’s well-being, but it affects the immune system as well, where the lack of social interaction can negatively lead to first signs of depression and anxiety. Social support and social interaction positively influence human beings’ physical and mental health. Gladwell states, “The Internet is now about interactivity and conversation” (Gladwell 3). While the Internet continues to replace human contact, it devalues a solid bond with someone, causing one to lose that relationship and become distant.

The Internet and mobile technology seem to be subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us and leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society. Instead of spending time in person with friends, we call, text, or comment on the picture they just posted. These actions may seem more straightforward, but in the end, ultimately, seeing our friends face to face a lot less creates a gap between the relationships. A few texts do not equal an hour spent talking with a friend over lunch, and a smiley-face emoticon could never replace the ear-splitting grin and smiling eyes of one of the closest people in one’s life.

References

1. Twenge, J. M. (2017). Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? The Atlantic, August 2017 issue. 
2. Gladwell, M. (2010). Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted. The New Yorker, October 4, 2010 issue. 

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