Gen Z has been warped by social media and victimhood culture: Jonathan haidt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

Or maybe grow a backbone and say no to kids who want social media at such young ages. “All the kids are doing it” is the biggest parental abdication of responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

NP. Dear God, no, you don’t. You don’t have to let your 13 year old use social media and you’re sure as hell shouldn’t let a 7 year old anywhere near it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

Or maybe grow a backbone and say no to kids who want social media at such young ages. “All the kids are doing it” is the biggest parental abdication of responsibility.

+1 PP desperately wants their kid to be in the “right” crowd, no matter the costs.

[Anonymous]

It’s not just Americans

Russians got smoked cuz they couldn’t get off their cellphones!

Can you imagine gen z storming the beaches of Normandy or holding a position at the Somme or verdun or fighting in midway?

They would be smoked by giving their position away long before on IG stories!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

I think you might be missing the point here. Can you tell us:

- does your 13 year-old actually “see” his friends in person, and spend time in their physical presence, talking or doing other activities?

Or, are the majority of his interactions through social media “friends?”

There is a significant difference.

Yes, he sees his friends in person. He's not really sophisticated enough for online activities to replace in person. He does get to play online games with his friends once a week for several hours.

He's not in social media yet, just texting using his school computer. (Really, he doesn't have a finsta account or anything. For various reasons, he's very truthful.) He may be an anomaly amongst his friends but amongst our friends, some who work in IT and such, they are raising their kids with a wary eye on social media.

But then again, I'm GenX. I remember a time before all of this. I'd like to give that awareness to my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in academia - although at a large school with tens of thousands of students.

The effects of social media that I see are:
Their views are based on quick sound bites and headlines. Most are very poorly informed about the positions they hold or the issues they are arguing for or against. They often aren't even aware of the fuller context of the quip or headline or clip they saw that shaped their view. There is a lot of group think as most who hold similar views access the same social media content and due to algorythms, they aren't exposed to views outside their own in any kind of meaningful way. It is kind of battle of the group think mind based on headlines and sound bites on both sides.

- the online SM cancel culture means that having an unpopular view or being an independent thinker can get your words or video taken out of context as well and spread across platforms and bring a lot of immediate hate your way. Again by those who know nothing other than a 10 second clip. SM brings a lot of social pressure.

The gender identity stuff is primarily the currently acceptable vehicle for the angst and confusion of that developmental stage. In the past it has been punk, grunge, emo, goth, now its non binary or trans. Once you get to college age, it is mostly prevalent in the kids with angst - mental health issues, disadvantaged, social awkwardness / exclusion, kids who have been bullied, don't fit in, not conventionally attractive or mainstream etc. Kids who are struggling within themselves and with their social environments. Again, there has always been these angsty kids - they just have used different forms of expression over the years. This is currently socially acceptable.

Most young adults in the environment I see are very hard working and we are mostly past the entitled / I am a special snowflake group of the past decade. There are a lot of very smart kids and while yes many are idealistic as they should be in their youth, they are getting things done in life. Still have some overly involved parents and some kids who have very poorly formed independence skills but most are actually pretty good.

Mental health has become a catch all. We really need a stronger focus on prevention and on building mental strength / endurance / fitness and on promoting and maintaining good mental health like we do physical health. Look at the money and time people put into sports, gym memberships, physical activity etc. Now that mental health is recognized as just as important - we need the same amount of energy and money going into staying mentally healthy and fit.

My kid’s on the young end of Gen Z—only 15—but I’ve observed everything you describe here happening with her friend group from the time the first of them started to get phones around age 11-12. I’m tempted to chalk it up to adolescence, but it seems that young adults 10-15 years older than them haven’t yet broken out of these patterns. It’s like they’re just stewing in a permanent adolescent state. Some of my GenZ coworkers are into the exact same stuff that my 11 year old is into. (D&D, same video games)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a boring, played out generational trope. You can find dozens of this article written about millennials ten years ago. Not surprised the boomers are eating it up.

“I didn’t really read it, not am I aware of how toxic social media is, from evidence based on peer reviewed studies, but I can speak confidently out of my rear end. This entire topic is just old people bthcing about young people as has been done for centuries. There is no rise in anxiety among the young because I said said so and like I just want to chill and eat some fast food and like stop writing stuff.”

Don’t forget smoke. The writer you’re parodying also just wants to be high much of the day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like Gen Z! No more of them are ruined or sidetracked by victimhood than those in other generations are felled by stupid things. A certain portion of people are going to get stuck on something, no matter what. That’s life.

The first 45 seconds and sometimes several minutes of many videos are useless. You can see YouTube trying to fix its old content with “suggested clips” but tik tok is better for learning most things. In general the pressure to be fast makes people make better videos.

They’re having a gender revolution I don’t understand and I think it’s great. Of course it’s imperfect. Of course they’ll get big parts wrong. Godspeed, babies. Pull us to the future.

Um - if you think TikTok is anything but toxic, you are hopelessly naive and I am afraid this discussion has gone far over your head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

No sh1t. That is exactly the issue. Our kids are on it (13/16), but we limit it to <1 hr/day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

NP. Dear God, no, you don’t. You don’t have to let your 13 year old use social media and you’re sure as hell shouldn’t let a 7 year old anywhere near it.

Agree. And so do the tech giants who brought us all of this:


Steve Jobs did not let his children play with the iPad he helped create.

Interviews with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sundar Pichai, and other tech power players reveal that Silicon Valley parents are strict about technology use.

A book suggests the signs may have been clear years ago that smartphone use should be regulated.

Here is one of innumerable links on this.


https://www.businessinsider.com/screen-time-limits-bill-gates-steve-jobs-red-flag-2017-10?amp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't take this thread seriously. My 13 yo is Gen Z and his only concern right now is really just sports and seeing his friends. You don't really know what this Gen will be like until another decade in.

It's like predicting how the 1962 Boomers would be based on the 1948 Boomers.

Agree we don’t know what awaits our younger Gen Z kids, but even at 13 there is a lot of peer pressure to use social media. It’s not good.

lol how old are you? Kids age 7 are on social media, its basically the way they all communicate, you need to get with the times.

NP. Dear God, no, you don’t. You don’t have to let your 13 year old use social media and you’re sure as hell shouldn’t let a 7 year old anywhere near it.

Agree. And so do the tech giants who brought us all of this:


Steve Jobs did not let his children play with the iPad he helped create.

Interviews with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sundar Pichai, and other tech power players reveal that Silicon Valley parents are strict about technology use.

A book suggests the signs may have been clear years ago that smartphone use should be regulated.

Here is one of innumerable links on this.


https://www.businessinsider.com/screen-time-limits-bill-gates-steve-jobs-red-flag-2017-10?amp

Steve jobs died 12 years a go. Bill gates and Sundar are old as shit they don't have kids of tween or younger so they are completely out of touch and in a different parenting decade. You need to get with 2015 times

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Gen Z! No more of them are ruined or sidetracked by victimhood than those in other generations are felled by stupid things. A certain portion of people are going to get stuck on something, no matter what. That’s life.

The first 45 seconds and sometimes several minutes of many videos are useless. You can see YouTube trying to fix its old content with “suggested clips” but tik tok is better for learning most things. In general the pressure to be fast makes people make better videos.

They’re having a gender revolution I don’t understand and I think it’s great. Of course it’s imperfect. Of course they’ll get big parts wrong. Godspeed, babies. Pull us to the future.

Um - if you think TikTok is anything but toxic, you are hopelessly naive and I am afraid this discussion has gone far over your head.

And it is not a matter of not liking gen Z - it is a matter of seeing the way they are struggling much more than previous generations and connecting the dots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in academia - although at a large school with tens of thousands of students.

The effects of social media that I see are:
Their views are based on quick sound bites and headlines. Most are very poorly informed about the positions they hold or the issues they are arguing for or against. They often aren't even aware of the fuller context of the quip or headline or clip they saw that shaped their view. There is a lot of group think as most who hold similar views access the same social media content and due to algorythms, they aren't exposed to views outside their own in any kind of meaningful way. It is kind of battle of the group think mind based on headlines and sound bites on both sides.

- the online SM cancel culture means that having an unpopular view or being an independent thinker can get your words or video taken out of context as well and spread across platforms and bring a lot of immediate hate your way. Again by those who know nothing other than a 10 second clip. SM brings a lot of social pressure.

The gender identity stuff is primarily the currently acceptable vehicle for the angst and confusion of that developmental stage. In the past it has been punk, grunge, emo, goth, now its non binary or trans. Once you get to college age, it is mostly prevalent in the kids with angst - mental health issues, disadvantaged, social awkwardness / exclusion, kids who have been bullied, don't fit in, not conventionally attractive or mainstream etc. Kids who are struggling within themselves and with their social environments. Again, there has always been these angsty kids - they just have used different forms of expression over the years. This is currently socially acceptable.

Most young adults in the environment I see are very hard working and we are mostly past the entitled / I am a special snowflake group of the past decade. There are a lot of very smart kids and while yes many are idealistic as they should be in their youth, they are getting things done in life. Still have some overly involved parents and some kids who have very poorly formed independence skills but most are actually pretty good.

Mental health has become a catch all. We really need a stronger focus on prevention and on building mental strength / endurance / fitness and on promoting and maintaining good mental health like we do physical health. Look at the money and time people put into sports, gym memberships, physical activity etc. Now that mental health is recognized as just as important - we need the same amount of energy and money going into staying mentally healthy and fit.

Yes agree - though it is hard to get teens into good mental health care professionals as they are so overbooked and it is hard to get my teen off her phone and exercising …

But as a macro solution - I agree.