That amazes me too. My original point wasn’t to shit on kids. A lot of them don’t know any better and their parents failed them by letting them go skipping into the digital crack houses that are smart phones. Myself included.
But I find it fascinating how much “social” media seems to have increased the level of… uh… Dumbass behavior and the need to record and share every damned thing you do. In fairness, it’s not just kids that do this.
Most of the time, when my kid is having a dumbass moment, her mom and I already have a pretty good idea that something is up. We are ALWAYS able to confirm it with pictures or videos because these kids seem incapable of doing stupid shit without recording it for posterity.
It always goes something like this:
Me: “Were you drinking at [random friends] house?”
Her: “No. I wouldn’t do that.”
Me: “Oh. Really?”
Plays video of my child falling down drunk
Me: “That’s so weird. [Random friend] has another friend that looks exactly like you.”
Her: “Whoops.”
Me: “Yeah. Whoops.”
Don’t get me wrong. Teenager me made plenty of stupid decisions and the few camera phones floating around during my high school years weren’t good for much. But there was no way in hell I would have let someone take pictures of me doing something that I knew I would have gotten in trouble for. Because sure as shit that photographic evidence would somehow have made it’s way to my parents.
But I find it fascinating how much “social” media seems to have increased the level of… uh… Dumbass behavior and the need to record and share every damned thing you do.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that social media has increased the level of dumbass behavior (with the exception of being dumb enough to record it). Teenagers and adults alike had plenty of dumb behavior before social media and phone cameras too. Even the desperate need to impress others isn’t really new, people have poisoned (with drugs, makeup,…), mutilated (with plastic surgery) or bankrupted (with big houses, cars, boats,…) themselves since long before social media to impress others.
That amazes me too. My original point wasn’t to shit on kids. A lot of them don’t know any better and their parents failed them by letting them go skipping into the digital crack houses that are smart phones. Myself included.
But I find it fascinating how much “social” media seems to have increased the level of… uh… Dumbass behavior and the need to record and share every damned thing you do. In fairness, it’s not just kids that do this.
Most of the time, when my kid is having a dumbass moment, her mom and I already have a pretty good idea that something is up. We are ALWAYS able to confirm it with pictures or videos because these kids seem incapable of doing stupid shit without recording it for posterity.
It always goes something like this:
Me: “Were you drinking at [random friends] house?”
Her: “No. I wouldn’t do that.”
Me: “Oh. Really?” Plays video of my child falling down drunk
Me: “That’s so weird. [Random friend] has another friend that looks exactly like you.”
Her: “Whoops.”
Me: “Yeah. Whoops.”
Don’t get me wrong. Teenager me made plenty of stupid decisions and the few camera phones floating around during my high school years weren’t good for much. But there was no way in hell I would have let someone take pictures of me doing something that I knew I would have gotten in trouble for. Because sure as shit that photographic evidence would somehow have made it’s way to my parents.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that social media has increased the level of dumbass behavior (with the exception of being dumb enough to record it). Teenagers and adults alike had plenty of dumb behavior before social media and phone cameras too. Even the desperate need to impress others isn’t really new, people have poisoned (with drugs, makeup,…), mutilated (with plastic surgery) or bankrupted (with big houses, cars, boats,…) themselves since long before social media to impress others.