Shirky, Part I

My personal understanding of Here Comes Everybody, Chapters 1, 3 and 5 consists of the power of group action and how easy it is to make an impact through the Internet. As Shirky elaborates on the story of losing a Sidekick, I immediately compared this group action concept with the power of convergence. "The loss and return of the Sidekick is a story about many things, but one of the themes running through the story is the power of group action, given the right tools." From my involvement in the Convergence group, one of the topics we specifically covered was the power of convergence and how groups of people can easily have a heavy impact on any situation.

This concept reminds me of a video we showed as an example regarding Mr. Splashy Pants and the power of the Reddit community. The Sidekick story is fairly similar to this because it links encompasses an individual bringing awareness of an event. Once that individual captures the attention of a group, the focus and publicity essentially creates a snowball effect. "When people care enough, they can come together and accomplish things of a scope and longevity that were previously impossible." With enough popularity, the group has the power to cause any situation to bend toward what they want, even if it involves recovering a lost Sidekick or naming a whale Mr. Splashy Pants.

Ten years ago, nothing like this would have been possible. Websites were used for retrieving information, just like a television or radio, and popular social networks did not exist. It's incredible how far we've come and how much social media and the Internet in general impacts our lives. My constant connection to friends, the Internet and email is more than just accepted by society, it is expected. However, the issue of privacy and the ease of personal publication for the world to see and share is often brought up and discussed in this book.

"It demonstrates the ways in which the information we give off about our selves, in photos and e-mails and MySpace pages and all the rest of it, has dramatically increased our social visibility and made it easier for us to find each other but also be scrutinized in public." It doesn't take a genius to realize that my age group, or rather the Net Generation, doesn't understand that what they post on the Internet is often permanent and can instantly spread on a global scale. Even in Grown Up Digital, Tapscott mentions that out of the main worrisome Net Generation traits, privacy is the most concerning because we still don't grasp the weight of this concept.

Obviously professionalism is highly valued among employers and today most applicants' Internet profiles are viewed with good reason. All it takes is one inappropriate comment, status or picture to ruin a career or even a reputation. I personally think this future problem must be learned the hard way for a lot of users and hopefully over time, others will recognize this risk and begin to value keeping some aspects of their lives private.

Tapscott, Part III

Upon completing this book, I admired how Tapscott countered every concern and negative opinion made toward my generation. He proves credible in his arguments and it honestly felt great to have someone outside of the Net Generation be supportive and actually defend our evolving lifestyle. After all, it's not like the Boomer generation was perfect considering my generation will be inheriting all of their problems and mistakes. If anything, our continuous intellectual growth from the web and constant interactivity will help us to fix a lot of these leftover issues.

Yet I can understand concerns regarding our lack of reading books. Personally, I only read books if they're assigned for class or if I'm at home visiting my parents and don't have anyone to hang out with. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy hanging out with my parents, not to mention the cats are good company as well, but every son or daughter needs his or her own personal "freedom" after a while... (Refer to previous blog for a more in depth explanation of this concept.) Honestly though, if I actually had the time to read a book for personal enjoyment, I would. It's a hobby I don't get enough of. But when I'm expected to amp up my productivity because technology has granted me access to email, clubs, group projects, sorority life, social media, texting, phone calls, interactive gaming, etc. I simply don't have the time. And when I do have the time, I'd rather be social or actually zone out watching TV.

I don't mean for my tangent of productivity and technology to sound like this lifestyle has become a burden, but I will admit to getting somewhat tired of everyone's demand for immediacy. Yet that's exactly what everyone wants. Heck, it's the reason why I get impatient waiting for my popcorn to get done in the microwave or why I become irritated with a slow internet connection. Once Web 2.0 caught on and rapidly integrated into our culture, there was no looking back. Days of writing letters and reading books are over, unless it's a special occasion (or I'm at my parent's house). And frankly, I'm okay with that. I'd prefer surfing the internet to find the information I need over reading a 300 page novel.

Perhaps this idea is why so many boomers freak out and think our world is doomed. My daily actions and beliefs contradict popular practice of traditional reading and writing dating back to its origin. However, because this lifestyle is different and unfamiliar doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Obviously integrating technology has been a good change for society and even for older generations, but fear of the unknown tends to blind reasoning and credible observation, a concept Tapscott recognizes throughout the book.

But overall, I'm not too worried about the older generation's "concerns." It's just like any other evolution, which forces them to participate and will eventually become transparent in their lives as well. Clearly their inexperience with immediacy will take them a while to get used to. Though what's ironic is it's the older generations that invented the beginnings of this lifestyle, so shaking a finger at a generation born into it is not a concept I would categorize as reasonable. Thank you Tapscott for making this clear and for giving the Net Generation some credit.

Grown Up Digital, Part II

The freedom indoors opposed to outdoors struck a note with me. In the final chapter of Part II, Tapscott talks about how Boomer parents interact with their Net Generation children. I was obviously able to relate on a number of points made throughout the chapter but I never contemplated the reasoning behind these concepts.

Firstly, the idea that I can tolerate my parents, regardless of my inability to wander unsupervised, is due to my freedom through the Internet. When outdoor adventure turns into online browsing, I am able to venture anywhere while also staying in close proximity to my parents. This capability has provided both my parents and myself with a comfortable living arrangement and over time, a closer relationship. Although I’ve noticed this same connecting among my friends, I never thought that helicopter parenting was common.

As an only child, my parents are naturally protective, which is understandable considering I’m all they have. To add to the smallness of my family, my parents have never divorced and the cousins I do have I’m not allowed to associate with because they’re bad influences. Naturally, this adds a lot of pressure on my part and more attention than I care for. So when my parents want to attend the college parent orientation or help me find job applications and put in a good word, I assume this is only normal for my family. That is, until I started reading Tapscott’s book and learning about the increasingly common helicopter parent.

However, what surprises me is the idea that parents are more protective and almost more controlling than ever before, but with a change in the family structure and freedom of the internet, the net generation is closer to them as a result. From personal experience, I admire my parents and appreciate their help when they offer it. It doesn’t mean I’m lazy or can’t take care of myself, but it’s rather a win-win situation for everyone. They get the satisfaction of helping and I receive that help, which saves me time and gives me further insight on opportunities I may have missed.  

Grown Up Digital, Part I

Upon reading the Introduction of this book, I was rather offended by the negative comments about the characteristics of my generation. Frankly, it's not our fault we were brought up through technology and when I think of the boomer generation growing up, I picture partying, raves and riots. While I admit technology has weakened my generation's verbal communication skills, this digital accessibility has provided us with more information and social interactions than ever before.

Personally, I found segments within the The Net Generation Brain chapter extremely interesting. Particularly, the portion covering video game testing and how gamers develop various skills as a result of regular participation. Although I'm rather biased since I regularly engage in this activity, I have supported the benefits of video games for years and I know video games truly prepare you for real life situations. Let's walk through a typical scenario.

I am in the Xbox Live menu of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and am about to start a game of Capture the Flag. As I spawn, I am given a team to complete the objective of capturing the flag with and choose to equip myself with a Famas since it's versatitility will help me adapt to my surroundings. Since the other team will be guarding the flag, I know that I must work with my team in order to win. As the game starts, I immediately notice the map is small and filled with many destroyed buildings. Opponents could be around any corner so I cautiously move from one building to another and watch my team mate's back while I assume he's doing the same for me. I see movement off in the distance but don't have a clear shot so I throw a grenade because I know this weapon and my spatial reasoning have a better chance of killing than my gun.

Once the coast is clear, I notice the flag but don't go for it yet. I tell my team to look for snipers who are guarding the flag from a distance and we all check our radar for good measure. During this time I note my amunition is low so I can either use my secondary weapon, a pistol, which isn't as powerful and better for short range attacks, thus causing me to stay in buildings to have a better chance of survival, or I could find an unclaimed gun and use that. However, since I am low on amunition and have chosen the perk of Extreme Conditioning, which allows me to sprint for longer periods of time than I normally could, I alert my team mates and run for the flag.

Immediately, an enemy appears in my periferal so I shoot at him while continuing to run toward the flag. Suddenly a grenade indicator pops up and I have a second to jump out of the way before I'm toast. I attempt to jump out of the way but the explosion blinds me from seeing an opponent crouched in the window across the street. Before I can blink my dead body appears on my screen and I'm watching my death. I make a mental note of the location of my attacker but if he's smart he'll move to a different location. When the recap is over I respawn at the end of the map and am given another chance to capture the flag. I'll have to be faster this time. Luckily, I've pieced together the outlay of the map and understand the defensive strategy and skill level of my opponents.

"Games force you to decide, to choose, to prioritize." In a mere 5 minutes I implemented skills crucial to my survival but can easily be applied to real life situations. Whether I'm managing a team at work, driving in traffic, sifting through a messy room to find my keys, prioritizing homework and events in my busy schedule or catching a ball that racing toward my head, I know I've gained and strengthened these skills through video games. As far as I'm concerned, trial and error situations and a little friendly competition never hurt anyone and I'd take virtual learning experiences over a lecture that covers these same skills any day.

A Better Pencil, Part II

An interesting question is brought up in the beginning of Chapter 8 regarding whether or not communicating through technology is killing conversation and rupturing social relationships. Baron simply responds with, "English survives, conversation thrives online as well as off, and on balance, digital communications seems to be enhancing human interaction, not detracting from it." While Baron answers this deep question in only two sentences, my personal experiences push me to look past his focus on how it has boosted interactions and analyze what I have personally witnessed amongst my peers. 

This is perhaps the first, and possibly last time I will ever disagree with this well informed author. As much as I would like to think conversation thrives offline more than it did before computers were introduced, I can't help but acknowledge regular experiences that prove this point wrong. Yes, I realize sheer interaction on the web has greatly increased as a result of improved accessibility to just about anyone in the world. However, when I am no longer shocked to hear of break up texts or about someone being scared of a professional conversation on the phone with a stranger because it involves the act of speaking, I am simply led to believe our confidence and dependence of utilizing text for any kind of conversation has become a bit alarming. 


With a growing popularity for online services and the existence of entirely digital businesses, I view these additions as outlets for avoiding face to face interaction. Although I personally prefer to speak with someone rather than send an email, I'm still guilty of technology dependence as well. For example, I regularly avoid uncomfortable situations by resorting to my phone. Even when I'm on a date or enjoying a meal with my parents, I have to frequently remind myself not to check my phone in order to remain engaged in the conversation. 


So to summarize everything I just mentioned, I disagree because it seems like the younger generations have a harder time with social interaction and have more confidence in text than in a face to face conversation. Therefore, I believe it has weakened conversation offline and these interactions are only strengthened through the use text, which is not necessarily strengthening society.

Personally, it makes me wonder how future parties and businesses will work under my generation and those after. At this point I almost entirely receive internet invitations and thank you notes in replacement of letters through the mail - and by mail I mean in a mailbox rather than inbox if there's any confusion regarding my terminology. Of course I love technology, heck I want to design websites as a career, but regardless, I do occasionally wish it was socially acceptable not to have a cellphone or a Facebook. I say this simply because I may never have the opportunity to attempt to detach myself from this pressing technological dependence and I'd actually like to have a chance to appreciate life without it.