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Does anyone have any advice to avoid this? I don’t believe it is healthy to have one’s cultural center oriented around arbitrary mass media. Do I need to join

Does anyone have any advice to avoid this? I don’t believe it is healthy to have one’s cultural center oriented around arbitrary mass media. Do I need to join some kind of religious cult? Serious question (except for the cult part).

__s 2y ago
easy, don't let them get a switch until they get through the original NES Mario
al_borland 2y ago
As long as the rest of world is accessing shared media, there is no way around this. Keeping these things from the kid will mean a lifetime of references and metaphors they don’t understand. In general I think it’s harder than it was 20 years ago. The monoculture is basically dead. Instead of everyone having the choice of the same 3 TV shows on Friday night, there is an endless number of options on streaming services or YouTube, not to mention games, Twitch, etc. However, having something will at least allow them to to have a connection with a peer group who was in the same niche, and other things have grown big enough to transcend some of that, like Mr Beast and Mark Rober for example. I think a lot of people, even outside the core audience have seen the videos and know who they are. This doesn’t need to be the center of culture, but awareness of it still helps round someone out. To touch on religion… In the US, even if someone isn’t a Christian, I think it is still extremely helpful to be aware of the stories and traditions of Christianity. It is such a huge part of the culture and there are references all over the place that would be missed without this knowledge. The only time these things wouldn’t be useful is, like you said, in some kind of small religious community they will never leave, or a cult.
Suppafly 2y ago
Honestly I think you just let it happen organically. You don't have to push them towards or away from specific media, just be supportive as they want to approach things. If they come home asking to play minecraft, or whatever new trend is being talked about at school, let them. Or if you want to guide things a little bit, let them play as long as you are playing as well. People don't need 100% coverage of what's on trend for their generation to fit, but they do need some exposure. I'm sure we all remember the "my mom doesn't let me watch tv" kid from our youth that had trouble fitting in, but rarely remember which was the "I don't really like Power Rangers, but do like Ninja Turtles" kid because they still fit in.

__s 2y ago

easy, don't let them get a switch until they get through the original NES Mario

al_borland 2y ago

As long as the rest of world is accessing shared media, there is no way around this. Keeping these things from the kid will mean a lifetime of references and metaphors they don’t understand. In general I think it’s harder than it was 20 years ago. The monoculture is basically dead. Instead of everyone having the choice of the same 3 TV shows on Friday night, there is an endless number of options on streaming services or YouTube, not to mention games, Twitch, etc. However, having something will at least allow them to to have a connection with a peer group who was in the same niche, and other things have grown big enough to transcend some of that, like Mr Beast and Mark Rober for example. I think a lot of people, even outside the core audience have seen the videos and know who they are. This doesn’t need to be the center of culture, but awareness of it still helps round someone out. To touch on religion… In the US, even if someone isn’t a Christian, I think it is still extremely helpful to be aware of the stories and traditions of Christianity. It is such a huge part of the culture and there are references all over the place that would be missed without this knowledge. The only time these things wouldn’t be useful is, like you said, in some kind of small religious community they will never leave, or a cult.

Suppafly 2y ago

Honestly I think you just let it happen organically. You don't have to push them towards or away from specific media, just be supportive as they want to approach things. If they come home asking to play minecraft, or whatever new trend is being talked about at school, let them. Or if you want to guide things a little bit, let them play as long as you are playing as well. People don't need 100% coverage of what's on trend for their generation to fit, but they do need some exposure. I'm sure we all remember the "my mom doesn't let me watch tv" kid from our youth that had trouble fitting in, but rarely remember which was the "I don't really like Power Rangers, but do like Ninja Turtles" kid because they still fit in.