Anonymity is a thing of the past.
Have social networks changed Gen Y’s way of thinking so much that we would rather spend a night in with our thousands of Facebook friends and fellow Twitter followers, than actually revel in normal, human social interaction with them?
There is no doubt the concept of tweeting our every thought and interacting with people via YouTube, Facebook and MySpace has changed society significantly.
Gen Ys have been born into a millennial generation consumed by media communication and digital technology.
The ’80s babies have also generally been raised in a familial environment with a concentration on free will and the encouragement to express ourselves in the way we wish.
The extension of this expression comes through in the way in which we liaise confidently with social media, with a strong emphasis on the need to tweet, blog and broadcast our every move and thought on several digital portals and be able to see that of others also.
Technological innovation is advancing faster than ever before, with a particular focus on personal devices.
Gen Ys are being consumed by the latest iPhone 4S, the iPad 2 and laptops that weigh less and less by the month, all to provide instant gratification of interaction with our personal Androids.
Is it all just getting too much? Who really wants to know that that person on your Facebook, who you haven’t seen for five years ‘is bored’ in their recent status update.
Or your favourite celebrity that you’ve been following on Twitter has just consumed the best cookies ever!
I just don’t get it.
Is Twitter really going to matter significantly in the future?
Will we all look back and say, ‘well, my Twitter account and I certainly had a great time?’.
All those hours I spent on my phone, reading people’s escapades and tweeting my thoughts to the world on the newest television show have certainly made a difference to my life and that of others.
There is no doubt that Twitter has taken the world and in particular Gen Ys by storm.
To just think about the global impact of Whitney Houston’s death in which the uncovered circumstances surrounding how she died and events that took place soon after were revealed to the world via Twitter is phenomenal and directly reflective of the power of this social media.
The instant information available at your fingertips beats any breaking newspaper story.
Which brings me to myself.
Do I have the overwhelming urge to launch myself into this world of tweeting?
What would I say? Does anyone really care about my thoughts? Who would follow me?
I have always held reservations about updating something on my Facebook page about myself.
Do I wish to engage in another form of social media?
Would it be just another thing for me to become obsessed with; forever scrolling through people’s news and celebrity tweets for updates? Does it even matter?
I will leave you with the following joke I recently encountered which I think cleverly sums up my scepticism about Twitter and Gen Y’s escalating obsession with social media.
It goes like this: The makers of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have decided to merge their sites together. You now log on as youtwitface!
