Sunday, December 13, 2009

"Lame" in the New Millennium

So, I'm standing in the cookies and crackers isle at my local grocery store wishing I could identify my tormentor--the person who put the Wheat Thins next to the Oreo cookies!! Not only are the Oreos next to the Wheat Thins, they are ON SALE buy one get one free!! It's a conspiracy, I tell you! But alas, I resisted temptation and purchased just ONE pack of Chips Ahoy! LOL

While I am standing there making this vital decision, two young girls are behind me trying to decide on which soda to buy. I will call them Girl1 and Girl2. As they are standing there, Girl1's cell phone rings, and she talks with someone for a few minutes, but that's not the interesting part. Actually, I wasn't really paying attention until she ended the call.
When she hangs up, she says to Girl2, "that was Brad! He called me to say hi!"
Girl2 says, "whaaaaat??"
I'll pause here.
Now, during my day, just this portion of the conversation would have most likely meant that one of the cutest guys in school had called. Then, my friend and I would have giggled at the excitement of it. NOT the case here! Ok, continuing...

Girl1 says, "yeah he CALLED me! I texted him 'hi! what's up' and he actually CALLED me to say hi!"
Girl2: "OH MY GOD!! You mean he did not TEXT back hi??!"
Girl1: "NO!!!"
Girl2: "oh he is TOO lame!! Don’t talk to him anymore if he couldn't text hi! OH MY GOD!"
Girl1: "oh I'm not! Let me delete 'lame-o's' number right now!"

My first response was a smile as I thought about poor Brad. :-( Then, I thought about the way our world has changed. Social media and all electronic communication have transformed how we define others, our relationships, even ourselves, and success.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project has several articles on teens and social media and other information on the impacts of technology use. See http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Teens-and-Social-Media.aspx or click the title of this blog.

What are your thoughts or personal stories on this topic?

FYI: "The Pew Internet Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan “fact tank” that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Project studies the social impact of the internet."

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