According to a report at vocativ.com, social media now tops TV as the main source of news for respondents aged 18-24 throughout the world. One person involved in the study was quoted as saying “These days, millennials let news find them where they are, rather than going to find the news where it used to be — on television.” The findings, the report goes on to say, are hardly surprising: millennials are cord-cutting to a higher degree than anyone else — being plugged in all the time means it’s easy to happen upon news by accident. “But what this will mean for the future of news literacy is still up in the air.”
Here’s what the study should have said. “Moronic, dopey, web-addicted, socially inept, addled, know it all, snotty brats are News Illiterate because they live in a filter bubble where Social Media spoon feeds news to taste, perpetuating their own fantasy world feedback loop”. What this means for the future of News literacy is that there will be no such thing so long as people remain unexposed to a variety of sources and perspectives in a complex world. But why are we even talking about the voluntary ignorance of 18-24 year olds as it relates to news? Who cares what they think. The majority of 18-24 year olds don’t know squat about anything anyway. Youth is wasted on the young…Doesn’t any genius Marketing researcher know this? When they grow up and/or have families, they will smile as they look back on their youth and probably chuckle at how clueless they were… just like every other grown up on the planet does.
Now, before all of my Millennial brothers and sisters get all bent out of shape – Listen up! We aren’t kids anymore! The oldest among us is 36.6779 years of age. 18-24 year olds are Millennials but Millennials are not just 18-24 year olds. BTW, does anyone remember that age? I don’t. Primarily because those were precisely the same years that my brain was marinating in a stew of booze, hoppers and hormones simmering over a medium heat.
For some real advice to Millennials, check out Kanye West in his 2015 VMA Vangard speech:
“We the Millennials, bro. This is a new mentality. We’re not gonna control our kids with brands. We not gonna teach low self-esteem and hate to our kids. We gonna teach our kids that they can be something. We gonna teach our kids that they can stand up for theyself! We gonna teach our kids to believe in themselves!”
Right here is where he should have said something about getting your head out of your ass instead of being “plugged in all the time”. He continues…
“If my grandfather was here right now he would not let me back down! I don’t know I’m fittin’ to lose after this. It don’t matter though, cuz it ain’t about me. It’s about ideas, bro. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth.”
Right here is where he should have said something about not letting “News find them”.
I’m being critical of the Millennial ‘News’ report, not Kanye. His speech was awesome…brilliant actually. Even though it’s sort of vague it carries enough meaning that subjectively it touches a nerve in each individual as they interpret it based on their own experiences (just like music..any wonder he’s a musician?). Clearly it was very moving to those in attendance. It’s also pretty clear when you watch it that it’s off the cuff, which is straight balls in front of a TV audience of 9.8 Million. Few folks have the gift of super creativity but even fewer have the gift to speak to large crowds in emotive language. Those who do can literally control populations. What’s important is the message. Good for him that he’s got a positive one – it’s a wakeup call for a generation to transcend pier structures, corporations and insecurity.
…sounds to me like Social Media’s worst nightmare.
