Generation Like (1 Viewer)

[Boo Radley]

I think this is the place for this. I watched this Frontline episode last night. I found it a little unsettling. The need to be liked, and how it is being used in marketing seems unhealthy to me. But I'd be interested in what others think.

Generation Like | FRONTLINE | PBS

 

[rocket88]

I think this is the place for this. I watched this Frontline episode last night. I found it a little unsettling. The need to be liked, and how it is being used in marketing seems unhealthy to me. But I'd be interested in what others think.

Generation Like | FRONTLINE | PBS

I had to "like" this thread just for the irony.....

 

[ttwtt78640]

I had to "like" this thread just for the irony.....

I thought this, like, thread was going to be about, like, you know, when I said, like, "you know" they said, like, "me too".

 

[eohrnberger]

A wise man who saw it coming already way back then. Yes, the current crop of teenagers really is a bunch of idiots, and it causes me fear for the future of not only this nation, but the world in general.

 

[Slartibartfast]

It's bad I have been on irc for almost 15 years and before that it was multi user dungeons (to get my rpg fix before MUDs morphed into MMORPGs) and now even on irc or emails I feel the impulse to like something

 

[Rainman05]

This generation, my generation (between 10 to 30) will be the hardest generation to be hit by a wave of technology that those that came before us don't understand fully with a few exceptions. But by and large, most don't. The people who are the parents of the people who are now in that age groups are not equipped to deal with how this generation defines and will define itself in the online world and it will be my generation that has to create a correct online environment or know how to deal with the online environment for the future generations.

This is the reality of things. All this social integration, all this online presence... people today are living in the most intense news/information/feed/connected period in humanity. And there are challenges to this. The main one, is how you grow up... what defines you... what makes you who you are. The amount of noise coming your way is immense. Just immense. And it will ruin a lot of people because a lot of people won't be able to handle the noise and other than their peers, there will be nobody to help them or make them understand or make sense of what they are going through.

Just like the industrial revolution over 200 years ago hit society hard and a generation was lost in transition because the generation before them were inept in understanding or dealing with the changes... one generation which lived through the rapid industrialization of each nation took the blunt force and carved their way through that for better or worse and then they laid the groundwork for the next generations. This is going to happen now with my generation. Everyone else is obsolete in this dialogue because anyone who is over 30/35 is not equipped to understand what this impact does on people by large... so yeah.

Society will have to change dramatically. Our education system will have to change. Our way of seeing problems and solutions has to change. The way we perceive information has to change. The economic models of nations will get adapted and this is the computer revolution whose seeds were planted in the late part of the XXth century, and now they're coming in fruition. This is the reality of things. Just like the seeds of the industrial revolution got planted in the XVIIIth century but only came to maturity in the XIXth century in western europe. Ofc this is at a more accelearated pace... as I said, the seeds were planted in the 1980s, 1990s... they're starting to mature now and we're in the thick of it. We're molded by it and we're going to be the product of it.

And anyone who has a complaint about the way society is today, about the way "kids behave" today with "all their facebooks and smart phones and internets", if you don't like certain aspects... .well, it's because you guys, the ones who came before us, messed up. Were insufficiently prepared for the change that came and couldn't handle it. For better or worse, the chickens have come home to roost and we'll see what they hatch in 20-30years time.

A wise man who saw it coming already way back then. Yes, the current crop of teenagers really is a bunch of idiots, and it causes me fear for the future of not only this nation, but the world in general.

You are no better buddy boy. Don't you dare put yourself above the teenagers of today.

As I said above, if you're over 30-35, and you're unhappy with the current crop of teenagers, it's your fault. You're the generation that raises these teens.

 

[Lutherf]

I think this is the place for this. I watched this Frontline episode last night. I found it a little unsettling. The need to be liked, and how it is being used in marketing seems unhealthy to me. But I'd be interested in what others think.

Generation Like | FRONTLINE | PBS

I think that a lot of people are as or more concerned with their digital persona than they are with their RL persona and I really don't think that's healthy.

I watched someone her have a bit of a meltdown yesterday over what (to my thinking) amounts to nothing but words. I have a friend on another forum who gets so absorbed in the content of what's being posted that she freaks out. I hear people freaking over Facebook and see TONS of stupid crap being posted with the goal of getting recognition.....who the hell wants that much recognition in real life?

People crave feedback for their ideas and thoughts and the internet provides that feedback in spades but what it doesn't do is help you process that feedback and that's where people get lost. You have to learn to process the feedback you get in productive ways whether that feedback is in digital form or face to face.

 

[polgara]

I think that a lot of people are as or more concerned with their digital persona than they are with their RL persona and I really don't think that's healthy.

I watched someone her have a bit of a meltdown yesterday over what (to my thinking) amounts to nothing but words. I have a friend on another forum who gets so absorbed in the content of what's being posted that she freaks out. I hear people freaking over Facebook and see TONS of stupid crap being posted with the goal of getting recognition.....who the hell wants that much recognition in real life?

People crave feedback for their ideas and thoughts and the internet provides that feedback in spades but what it doesn't do is help you process that feedback and that's where people get lost. You have to learn to process the feedback you get in productive ways whether that feedback is in digital form or face to face.

Could this be a case of allowing others to do your thinking for you, and simply buying into it because it's easier? Do people not have the capacity anymore to question anything? It didn't used to be that way, but I guess if you're totally dependent upon the government to provide your everyday food and shelter needs, you might not want to rock the boat. My question, though, has always been---what happens when that is no longer possible? Our nearly $ 18 trillion debt load is now equal to, or exceeds, our GDP, and something will have to give, because there won't be enough money collected in taxes to continue doing what we're doing. Then what?

Greetings, Lutherf. :2wave:

 

[Lutherf]

Could this be a case of allowing others to do your thinking for you, and simply buying into it because it's easier? Do people not have the capacity anymore to question anything? It didn't used to be that way, but I guess if you're totally dependent upon the government to provide your everyday food and shelter needs, you might not want to rock the boat. My question, though, has always been---what happens when that is no longer possible? Our nearly $ 18 trillion debt load is now equal to, or exceeds, our GDP, and something will have to give, because there won't be enough money collected in taxes to continue doing what we're doing. Then what?

Greetings, Lutherf. :2wave:

Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine today!

I don't know about "letting others think for you" and I don't want to get into the politics in this thread but there is definitely a loss in the general ability to cope with things.

 

[Slartibartfast]

This generation, my generation (between 10 to 30) will be the hardest generation to be hit by a wave of technology that those that came before us don't understand fully with a few exceptions. But by and large, most don't. The people who are the parents of the people who are now in that age groups are not equipped to deal with how this generation defines and will define itself in the online world and it will be my generation that has to create a correct online environment or know how to deal with the online environment for the future generations.

This is the reality of things. All this social integration, all this online presence... people today are living in the most intense news/information/feed/connected period in humanity. And there are challenges to this. The main one, is how you grow up... what defines you... what makes you who you are. The amount of noise coming your way is immense. Just immense. And it will ruin a lot of people because a lot of people won't be able to handle the noise and other than their peers, there will be nobody to help them or make them understand or make sense of what they are going through.

Just like the industrial revolution over 200 years ago hit society hard and a generation was lost in transition because the generation before them were inept in understanding or dealing with the changes... one generation which lived through the rapid industrialization of each nation took the blunt force and carved their way through that for better or worse and then they laid the groundwork for the next generations. This is going to happen now with my generation. Everyone else is obsolete in this dialogue because anyone who is over 30/35 is not equipped to understand what this impact does on people by large... so yeah.

Society will have to change dramatically. Our education system will have to change. Our way of seeing problems and solutions has to change. The way we perceive information has to change. The economic models of nations will get adapted and this is the computer revolution whose seeds were planted in the late part of the XXth century, and now they're coming in fruition. This is the reality of things. Just like the seeds of the industrial revolution got planted in the XVIIIth century but only came to maturity in the XIXth century in western europe. Ofc this is at a more accelearated pace... as I said, the seeds were planted in the 1980s, 1990s... they're starting to mature now and we're in the thick of it. We're molded by it and we're going to be the product of it.

And anyone who has a complaint about the way society is today, about the way "kids behave" today with "all their facebooks and smart phones and internets", if you don't like certain aspects... .well, it's because you guys, the ones who came before us, messed up. Were insufficiently prepared for the change that came and couldn't handle it. For better or worse, the chickens have come home to roost and we'll see what they hatch in 20-30years time.



You are no better buddy boy. Don't you dare put yourself above the teenagers of today.

As I said above, if you're over 30-35, and you're unhappy with the current crop of teenagers, it's your fault. You're the generation that raises these teens.

This!

I am right at the edge of the change and have full memory of pre and post popular internet. I was lucky enough to come in slowly with compuserv and aix terminals in my early teens. To know the difference between PPP and slip and know that neither matter today.

So I bridge both groups. But I tend to identify with highly technical people in my social life between 25 and 38. Give or take I know a few in their sixties that are damn good with this stuff too of course.

People are overthinking this stuff. People still go hang out and do things in real space all the time. I met with friends I met online at events such as dragon con. Most of my girlfriends I met online but also in meat space. Most of my best real world friends were met online but I know them in real life. For most the barrier is nonexistent and it's the older generation that throws up walls not understanding that the base concepts of human interaction remain but the interface is different and that the distinction is ultimately unimportant to the current youth. They can navigate both.

We are all nerds now and people throw up terms like inept because they are grasping at straws trying to understand what they are seeing.

Gah this has the feel if those epic declarations out of wired magazine a decade ago when people like Cory Doctorow were thought leaders

 

[Boo Radley]

I had to "like" this thread just for the irony.....

I hear ya!

 

[Boo Radley]

This!

I am right at the edge of the change and have full memory of pre and post popular internet. I was lucky enough to come in slowly with compuserv and aix terminals in my early teens. To know the difference between PPP and slip and know that neither matter today.

So I bridge both groups. But I tend to identify with highly technical people in my social life between 25 and 38. Give or take I know a few in their sixties that are damn good with this stuff too of course.

People are overthinking this stuff. People still go hang out and do things in real space all the time. I met with friends I met online at events such as dragon con. Most of my girlfriends I met online but also in meat space. Most of my best real world friends were met online but I know them in real life. For most the barrier is nonexistent and it's the older generation that throws up walls not understanding that the base concepts of human interaction remain but the interface is different and that the distinction is ultimately unimportant to the current youth. They can navigate both.

We are all nerds now and people throw up terms like inept because they are grasping at straws trying to understand what they are seeing.

Gah this has the feel if those epic declarations out of wired magazine a decade ago when people like Cory Doctorow were thought leaders

I'm not sure my message is ineptitude. Though there may be a problem being too reliant on technology. I'm more concerned with the obsession with self, and the merger with marketing. These are two separate concerns, but things I think could be harmful overall.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I'm not sure my message is ineptitude. Though there may be a problem being too reliant on technology. I'm more concerned with the obsession with self, and the merger with marketing. These are two separate concerns, but things I think could be harmful overall.

Unless we decide to be Amish new technology will pretty much always increase luxury which means people can devote time and customize their world to their liking. This means people will have greater opportunity to be self focused.

Marketing, while I hate it, is what it is and with increasingly sophisticated delivery and selection systems it's going to be more and more impossible to avoid

 

[Helix]

A wise man who saw it coming already way back then. Yes, the current crop of teenagers really is a bunch of idiots, and it causes me fear for the future of not only this nation, but the world in general.

well, to be fair, technology gave Stephen Hawking a way to communicate, so there's that.

hemming and hawing about tech is just another "those damned kids and their rock and roll music." everything was always better then, and it's perpetually going to ****. we may as well all draw warm baths and exsanguinate ourselves.

 

[Boo Radley]

Unless we decide to be Amish new technology will pretty much always increase luxury which means people can devote time and customize their world to their liking. This means people will have greater opportunity to be self focused.

Marketing, while I hate it, is what it is and with increasingly sophisticated delivery and selection systems it's going to be more and more impossible to avoid

It should also give us the freedom to look outwardly, which I think would be healthier. Being famous is a meaningless moniker if not backed by meaningful efforts that better the world. No one should merely wish to be famous.

As for marketing, I understand that it is part of the world. But it too sends messages as well as gathers information. I merely suggest this could be a problem later, if not now.

 

[eohrnberger]

This generation, my generation (between 10 to 30) will be the hardest generation to be hit by a wave of technology that those that came before us don't understand fully with a few exceptions. But by and large, most don't. The people who are the parents of the people who are now in that age groups are not equipped to deal with how this generation defines and will define itself in the online world and it will be my generation that has to create a correct online environment or know how to deal with the online environment for the future generations.

This is the reality of things. All this social integration, all this online presence... people today are living in the most intense news/information/feed/connected period in humanity. And there are challenges to this. The main one, is how you grow up... what defines you... what makes you who you are. The amount of noise coming your way is immense. Just immense. And it will ruin a lot of people because a lot of people won't be able to handle the noise and other than their peers, there will be nobody to help them or make them understand or make sense of what they are going through.

Just like the industrial revolution over 200 years ago hit society hard and a generation was lost in transition because the generation before them were inept in understanding or dealing with the changes... one generation which lived through the rapid industrialization of each nation took the blunt force and carved their way through that for better or worse and then they laid the groundwork for the next generations. This is going to happen now with my generation. Everyone else is obsolete in this dialogue because anyone who is over 30/35 is not equipped to understand what this impact does on people by large... so yeah.

Society will have to change dramatically. Our education system will have to change. Our way of seeing problems and solutions has to change. The way we perceive information has to change. The economic models of nations will get adapted and this is the computer revolution whose seeds were planted in the late part of the XXth century, and now they're coming in fruition. This is the reality of things. Just like the seeds of the industrial revolution got planted in the XVIIIth century but only came to maturity in the XIXth century in western europe. Ofc this is at a more accelearated pace... as I said, the seeds were planted in the 1980s, 1990s... they're starting to mature now and we're in the thick of it. We're molded by it and we're going to be the product of it.

And anyone who has a complaint about the way society is today, about the way "kids behave" today with "all their facebooks and smart phones and internets", if you don't like certain aspects... .well, it's because you guys, the ones who came before us, messed up. Were insufficiently prepared for the change that came and couldn't handle it. For better or worse, the chickens have come home to roost and we'll see what they hatch in 20-30years time.



You are no better buddy boy. Don't you dare put yourself above the teenagers of today.

As I said above, if you're over 30-35, and you're unhappy with the current crop of teenagers, it's your fault. You're the generation that raises these teens.

My girls are going to be fine. (You want something, how are you going to work to earn it?)

As for the rest of the generation? Meh. Don't really care. Fact of the matter is that this generation of kids was raised by overly politically correct liberal / progressive dominated academics running the schools, and frankly have come out the worse for it. A bunch of 'participation awarded' marshmallows that cave at the first difficult thing they are asked to do or the first confrontation that faces them. Guess what. Their lives are going to be far more filled with adversity and confrontation than any of ours were, and they've not been prepared to succeed.

Fail on most parents. Fail on the public education system.

 

[Slartibartfast]

It should also give us the freedom to look outwardly, which I think would be healthier. Being famous is a meaningless moniker if not backed by meaningful efforts that better the world. No one should merely wish to be famous.

As for marketing, I understand that it is part of the world. But it too sends messages as well as gathers information. I merely suggest this could be a problem later, if not now.

This is the same species that took the greatest technological and social achievement mankind ever created and used it to look at cats. The real soul of the internet is 4chan and reddit.

I believe the internet will improve things and make the world a more egalitarian place but it's going to be a revolution that isn't televised and we still have more sophistication we can add to this platform. We haven't seen nothing yet.

 

[polgara]

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a pessimist because I'm not that way, but I am alarmed by what I am seeing lately. It seems that people just don't know what to do any more, so they depend upon our elected officials. Unfortunately they appear to be more interested in themselves and their respective parties than anything else. I can't remember a time when we had the divisiveness we are seeing today, and the fact that it's being encouraged is wrong. We need to compromise and get along with each other to improve things, not hate one another.

 

[Sherman123]

A wise man who saw it coming already way back then. Yes, the current crop of teenagers really is a bunch of idiots, and it causes me fear for the future of not only this nation, but the world in general.

This is most likely a hoax quote or misattributed. Though that isn't uncommon since Einstein is up there with Jefferson and Lincoln with the most misattributed quotes.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a pessimist because I'm not that way, but I am alarmed by what I am seeing lately. It seems that people just don't know what to do any more, so they depend upon our elected officials. Unfortunately they appear to be more interested in themselves and their respective parties than anything else. I can't remember a time when we had the divisiveness we are seeing today, and the fact that it's being encouraged is wrong. We need to compromise and get along with each other to improve things, not hate one another.

People can customize their world now. To the point every fringe can jump into an echo chamber and convince themselves of their own legitimacy. It's going to only get more intense.

 

[eohrnberger]

This is most likely a hoax quote or misattributed. Though that isn't uncommon since Einstein is up there with Jefferson and Lincoln with the most misattributed quotes.

Still doesn't alter the truth as we see it laid out before us.

 

[Boo Radley]

This is the same species that took the greatest technological and social achievement mankind ever created and used it to look at cats. The real soul of the internet is 4chan and reddit.

I believe the internet will improve things and make the world a more egalitarian place but it's going to be a revolution that isn't televised and we still have more sophistication we can add to this platform. We haven't seen nothing yet.

You mean more cats?

I need more of what you expect before I can comment. If they are more interested in self, are manipulated by business marketing, and struggle with knowing is true and not true on the Internet, what will this egalitarian new world look like?

 

[Boo Radley]

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a pessimist because I'm not that way, but I am alarmed by what I am seeing lately. It seems that people just don't know what to do any more, so they depend upon our elected officials. Unfortunately they appear to be more interested in themselves and their respective parties than anything else. I can't remember a time when we had the divisiveness we are seeing today, and the fact that it's being encouraged is wrong. We need to compromise and get along with each other to improve things, not hate one another.

I actually agree, especially concerning compromise.

 

[SayMyName]

I think this is the place for this. I watched this Frontline episode last night. I found it a little unsettling. The need to be liked, and how it is being used in marketing seems unhealthy to me. But I'd be interested in what others think.

Generation Like | FRONTLINE | PBS

It is seeping into workplace evaluations as well. More and more, no matter how much you know or how well you do your job, the belief of others that you are a likeable person is having weight. It has to do with the growth in interpersonal relations as a trait viewed as most valuable in growing "community." I am not sure how valuable, however, it is in the long run for getting a job done. We will see.

Also, this day and age in regards to technology and its growth may also have an impact on who is likeable. For example, more and more the technology, concepts, and processes that surround us and make the world go round are becoming harder and harder to comprehend for most people. They can use the basic tools such as a keyboard and cellphone, but they have no idea what makes them work. In a breakdown of any major proportions, many people would not have a clue how to go through a day without such tools. Thus, where the "likeable" person comes in. We will have more faith in that person who makes us believe he has the answer or knows what is going on rather than pay attention to those that actually have the answer and can present to us the problems with solutions. In other words, as we become more technologically dependent, "faith" will actually rise in most areas, rather than reason and understanding, and thus the "liking" of those that make us feel more and more comfortable in the confusing world around us. I believe it is called The Black Box theory.

 

[Boo Radley]

It is seeping into workplace evaluations as well. More and more, no matter how much you know or how well you do your job, the belief of others that you are a likeable person is having weight. It has to do with the growth in interpersonal relations as a trait viewed as most valuable in growing "community." I am not sure how valuable, however, it is in the long run for getting a job done. We will see.

Also, this day and age in regards to technology and its growth may also have an impact on who is likeable. For example, more and more the technology, concepts, and processes that surround us and make the world go round are becoming harder and harder to comprehend for most people. They can use the basic tools such as a keyboard and cellphone, but they have no idea what makes them work. In a breakdown of any major proportions, many people would not have a clue how to go through a day without such tools. Thus, where the "likeable" person comes in. We will have more faith in that person who makes us believe he has the answer or knows what is going on rather than pay attention to those that actually have the answer and can present to us the problems with solutions. In other words, as we become more technologically dependent, "faith" will actually rise in most areas, rather than reason and understanding, and thus the "liking" of those that make us feel more and more comfortable in the confusing world around us. I believe it is called The Black Box theory.

I heard a fellow from google say the other day that the ability to get along with people was more important than intelligence or knowledge of the job. I heard it in passing, but it caught my attention. I'm not sure how new that is.