Thoughts on the Unfollow Generation

A few little buttons on the internet have created an entire new way of seeing the world. And the next generation, a generation who is growing up holding an iPad or iPhone will be dramatically affected.

These days, you can opt in or opt out, agree or disagree, be a follower or an unfollower, a friend or foe.

But what gets lost is something dramatic:

Nuanced thought. We are no longer able to separate the baby from the bathwater. If I write a blog that has one point people disagree with, they unfollow, they are against. It seems in our rush to create tribes, we’ve created exactly that, tribes. But sadly, we’ve created tribes at war with each other.

Who would have thought tribes would have gone to war with each other? How little have we learned from history?

The internet is an island and fiction has become fact: Lord of the Flies is now a reality.

But it’s not all bad news.

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Here are the pros and cons of the Unfollow Generation:

THE PROS

This is a generation very aware of boundaries. While they are the most “following” generation in history, meaning they are nearly incapable of original thought, but follow anybody with a quick wit and meaningless tweet, they are also extremely aware of their own desires, wants, passions and so forth. If they don’t like you, they unfollow. And that’s beautiful. They feel no responsibility to go along with thoughts they don’t agree with. It’s not that they know who they are, because they don’t. It’s that they know who they want to identify with. They aren’t leaders, they are followers, and they define their identity quickly and decisively by who they identify with. I see this as an overall positive. Boundaries are incredibly important for overall mental health. Love it.

THE CONS

They are often incapable of nuanced thought. They see the world in black and white, and the world isn’t in black and white. They are desperate to find their tribe and extremely insecure about standing alone. They get their security from a small mass who sees the world the way they see the world without realizing the world is even more complex than the way any small tribe sees the world. They look for personalities over truth, shocking statements over nuanced thought, fashion over reality.

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Notes on this blog: I wrote this blog one afternoon, just firing off thoughts and turning them in. Then I read it again this morning on my walk. I don’t love the tone of it, though I think the conversation is important. It seems judgmental, in hindsight. I struggled with whether to rewrite it or just add a note and decided to add a note and let the embarrassing part of the post stand. What strikes me most is this really isn’t a post about a generation, it’s about a cultural shift. We are all beginning to feel the positive and negative characteristics of an unfollow culture. This part seems to me the most cold and untrue: “they are nearly incapable of original thought, but follow anybody with a quick wit and meaningless tweet…” Do accept my apologies. I think that about some people, but certainly not an entire generation. Moving on…

Thoughts on the Unfollow Generation is a post from: Storyline Blog