we all nonetheless had a good appreciation of our
shared lives. We were together, not isolated in our
own little universes.
That’s something we should all work on in today’s
technology-driven world.
Social Media
Generation Gap,
Insta-what?
by Olivia Cameron In 20 years of being on this planet, I have found
myself on a number of social platforms that I don’t
remember signing up for around fi ve years ago. Yet,
I frequent a few of these mobile apps so much that
I’ve had to track screen time.
Of course, some of the platforms are useless or
outdated, but that’s just how we keep up with social
media. It is a merry-go-round of staying in the loop.
Without your place on the ride, side effects may
include the fear of missing out.
This is in part due to the addictive behavior
platforms like Snapchat or TikTok canproduce. But
what I’ve noticed most is that I will go to these apps
for comfort after dealing with a stressful day, just so I
can laugh a little. It’s a different kind of drug.
I’ve roped my mom into joining just a few of these
platforms so I can make her laugh,too. The idea
74 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE May/June 2020
behind having so many
of your friends and family
members on multiple
platforms is that you can
communicate with them
daily, in ways other than
boring messages.
Not a day goes by
that I don’t send friends
a few posts that remind
me of them, especially
with how outlandish
the Generation Z
Olivia Cameron
humor is getting.
There are terms that fl oat around in cyberspace
that many don’t understand. For instance, “memes”
are what give our younger generation a different
language. When you talk in memes or ‘vines,’ from
another video-sharing platform made for humor,
then you know you’ve been sucked into the digital
age.
I’ve had to teach family elders where those terms
come from, and have even gotten my immediate
family members to repeat some of these online
jokes to me in conversation.
Since most or all of these jokes don’t make sense
to other generations, those people live in a different
universe than my generation does. It can make you
feel singled out by other generations who mock
your consistent phone usage, but we’re growing up