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When I was a teenager in the late 90s, I had escapes from the social hell of high school. I could go home, invite one or two close friends over, and play video
by cecilpl2 4y ago
When I was a teenager in the late 90s, I had escapes from the social hell of high school. I could go home, invite one or two close friends over, and play video games. I could find a super niche community on IRC and hang with them virtually. I felt like I had somewhere I could belong.
Now, as a teenager you are plugged into that social fabric 24/7. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to find yourself in that hyper-connected social graph.
- ceedan 4y agoThe ability to escape online was really nice. There was a lot more anonymity, privacy and exploration.
- DougN7 4y agoThat’s a great point and it gave me the epiphany that perhaps being always on/connected, i.e. smart phones combined with everything else is actually the cause of change. You can’t just get up and walk away (obviously you can put your phone down, but then you are cut off!)
- abnercoimbre 4y agoAnd being cut off means you lose potentially life-altering opportunities?
- DougN7 4y agoDoes it though? It’s like the lottery - you pay a lot for that tiny chance.
- R_VelJohnson 4y agoI think about this often. Without smartphones, none of the problems we blame on social media would exist. We've gained a lot from the smartphone form factor (I haven't been lost in 10 years, for example), but whether we've lost more is a really open question, in my view.