2 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2021
    1. My surprise that no one is insulted by this is quickly overtaken by surprise that Venmo is condoning alcohol consumption among kindergarteners, the only group in America who is routinely asked, with educational toys like Leapfrog, to match short words with pictures.

      I appreciate what Barron is getting at here but I think he's taking an extremely contrarian stance to get at his point. Obviously Venmo is not condoning childhood alcohol consumption - a better and more nuanced take (which he alludes to elsewhere in the article) is that the conditions of modern life have prolonged adolescence for millennials (and generation z) - the traditional signifiers of adulthood are gone and the aesthetics of contemporary corporate app and internet design have adjusted to reflect this shift.

  2. Aug 2018
    1. identity why do teens seem strange online?292privacy why do youth share so publicly?543addiction what makes teens obsessed with social media?774danger are sexual predators lurking everywhere?1005bullying is social media amplifying meanness and cruelty?1286inequality can social media resolve social divisions?1537literacy are today’s youth digital natives?1768searching for a public of their own199

      Just reading this table of contents reminds me that this "analysis of teens" seems a lot like the perennial contemplations of adults who think that the generations of teenagers coming behind them is different, weird, or even deviant.

      A typical case in point is that of the greatest generation looking at the long-haired 60's hippy teens who came after them. "Why do they like rock and roll? They do too many drugs. There's no hope for the future." "Damn kids. Get off of my lawn!"

      Is the way that current teens and millennials react to social just another incarnation of this general idea?