Hooked Up: The Anti-Millennials - Chapter One

Welcome to the new weekly Hooked Up Gen Insight from Myers Media Business Network featuring insights about Internet Natives the first generation to grow up with the Internet browser as an embedded part of their lives In addition to insights from experts and research focusing on this unique new generation that39s now entering their adult years you will receive new chapters regularly from Hooked Up A New Generation39s Surprising Take on Sex Politics and Saving the World which won the International Book Award for Youth Issues and was finalist for Women39s Issues and Popular Culture Save each chapter in a folder and at the completion you will have the full book or you can visit Amazoncom Follow our Tweets at hookedupgen and visit our Facebook Page at wwwfacebookcomhookedupgeneration Chapter 1 A Hooked Up Generation the AntiMillennialsInternet Pioneers are the small band of impatient empowered multitasking curious confident confused sexually liberated sometimes bingedrinking and often fragile kids who were the first to be born into the Internet Age They39re the ones you see texting as they39re walking and talking with their friends and often texting the same friends they39re walking with holding conversations within conversationsUnlike past generations that typically encompass a 20 to 30year period the Internet Pioneer generation spans only a 5year period encompassing those who were born between 1991 and 1995 with the older class graduating from college and the younger class entering college in 2012 They comprise more than 95 percent of current college studentsThe Internet is the defining influence on Internet Pioneers and they are hooked up to and dependent on the Internet for managing almost every aspect of their lives They39ll eagerly embrace the latest apps innovations and technological advances that simplify and enhance their connectivity yet just as quickly reject products and services that are overtly marketed to them without demonstrating a clear valueThey39ve grown up with the Internet and the economic collapse of 1999 the impeachment of President Clinton the BushGore contested election and Bush presidency 911 weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqi War the Oklahoma Federal Building bombing religious extremism the war in Afghanistan atrocities in Africa the economic collapse of 2009 and subsequent 39bail out39 debates too big to fail steroids sexrelated scandals the election of the first AfricanAmerican president and intensified political polarization They39re aware of current affairs the Arab Spring and quotOccupyquot movements debates over climate change abortion contraception gay rights health care gun control immigration and illegal aliens education unionization states39 rights and taxes People who have dominated the news during their lives have included Paris Hilton Britney Spears Lindsay Lohan Snooki Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson with her quotunintentionalquot 2004 Super Bowl flash Internet Pioneers have also experienced unprecedented hurricanes earthquakes and natural disasters in the United States and around the worldAs exciting as the vision of Steve Jobs and the technological advances spurred by the Internet have been the economic political educational social and cultural realities facing today39s collegeage generation are as negatively charged as any since the Great Depression and World Wars of the 20th century This is the world that Internet Pioneers are inheritingInternet Pioneers will have a future full of quotOh Wowquot moments even as they shed the baggage of the depressing realities with which they have grown up This is the first generation that to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan has not been driving down the road of life looking in its rearview mirror Members of this generation have had a television screen an Internetconnected computer screen and a mobile screen throughout their lives through which they39ve been able to discover the past connect to the present and invent the futureThe chasm between pre and postInternet generations is a wide one Internet Pioneers because they straddle both are the special group that has grown up in the 21st centuryconnected world but remains encumbered by the baggage of the 20thcentury world they are inheriting Many of them will live to experience most if not all of this first century of the new millennium and they will be the ones to define and write its storyInternet Pioneers will be the inspiration creative force intellectual foundation economic backbone and social conscience of the 21st century They represent the generation that will lead America and the world into the most important and formative period of the 21st centuryOverloaded and WaryInternet Pioneers are different from generations that came before them They may be the most aware generation ever yet they39re so overloaded from being on a lifelong roller coaster of emotionally charged knowledge and experiences that they39re inclined to withhold voicing strong opinions They are measured and controlled in their actions They39ll listen to both sides of an argument and if they engage at all will try to find common ground even if they strongly agree with one opinion or the otherInternet Pioneers are in a word wary wary about having strong feelings or taking strong positions wary about their future prospects their plans their ability to contribute to and influence the world They39re wary about the economy politics institutions organizations movements trends and fads That wariness extends to teachers coaches clergy and celebrities It encompasses privacy issues spam bullying and hazingAlthough they may mature in fits and starts sometimes resentful of the responsibilities heaped upon them and confused by the chaos and conflicts in their lives they are generally at peace with adults They39re slow to protest against the institutions they mistrust They are socially connected far beyond relatives and friends to friends of friends organizations brands and corporations Internet Pioneers are funloving but hardworking focused on their futures polarized on many issues but generally cohesive in their hopes and plans for the futureNews and information comes at Internet Pioneers 247 they39re constantly engaged in online and mobile social interaction they39re media junkies who are more aware than any generation before them of the world and its realities as well as the daytoday and even minutebyminute realities within their own social circles They have grown up with information at their fingertips These students were the first to rely on the Internet for class projects as early as elementary school From there they quickly discovered the ease with which an Internet connection could open all kinds of doors The Internet could provide them with information friends entertainment and much more The online world became a kind of virtual homeInternet Pioneers have grown up with instant gratification media and with the world outside their homes constantly and urgently intruding on their family and personal lives What are the implicationsquotMany have grown up in homes with their moms and dads spending more time looking at their Blackberrys and iPhones than at their kids Their parents have been connecting to the world outside the home in such an urgent way via email they39ve created a sense of apprehension about the challenges of adulthoodquot Dean Lorraine BranhamSI Newhouse School of Communications Syracuse UniversityA childhood of tolerant parenting also defines this generation They belong to the first generation to attend schools that maintain zero tolerance for punishment with some students in classrooms that abolished grade point systems Others joined sports leagues that gave trophies to every player on every team Some students went to schools where everyone who wanted to be in the school play got a role and where gay students could openly form their own clubs And above all Internet Pioneers have been able to connect with each other 247 with minimal parental interference or even awarenessAs the Internet Pioneers generation has matured its members have evolved from media consumers to content creators Taught in an environment that promoted individual expression these young adults aren39t satisfied to sit back and let others tell them what to think or how to feel They have voices and they want to use them And an explosion in the world of social media has allowed them to do just thatHigh school and college students have an arsenal of social networks availableamp8211amp8211Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon Tumblr Google Plus Instagram Pinterest plus MeetUp WeeWorld and Foursquare in addition to hundreds more specialized networks and virtual worlds Students with initiative and a love for the written word can broadcast opinions to the world with the help of Blogger WordPress Square Space or LiveJournalTheir social lives are centered around technology but they39re socially comfortable and more likely to hug and embrace each other than shake hands Dating and relationships among college students reflect a new quothooked upquot culture in which relationships are often developed via engaged texting and in which sex is often a casual onetimeonly encounter The wary attitudes Internet Pioneers have toward commitments and longterm relationships affect their politics education careers religious beliefs media and entertainment interests and all aspects of their livesThe Internet and social networks have enabled Internet Pioneers to explore new cultures and simultaneously be a part of multiple social circles in an inclusive and open social structure The Facebook pages of Internet Pioneers often reflect more about their core selfimage and interests than they might share even in a close relationship These Facebook pages and updates identify their social networks current relationships and passions attitudes toward authority likes and dislikes fashion tastes and daytoday activities Facebook users might post their thoughts on whatever issues or challenges they39re confronting consumer brands they support the games and apps they like and their plans for the future In other words studying the Facebook page of an Internet Pioneer can reveal much about his or her current life as well as his or her longterm hopes dreams and fearsNEXT Chapter 2 Why are Internet Pioneers So Important

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