The "medium theory" states that the biggest media of the time period changes the way people operate in every other aspect of their lives. For example, in the 1980's and early 90's, television was the biggest medium that was generally available to most populations. Everything on the TV, according to Media Effects researcher Neil Postman, author of 'Amusing Ourselves to Death,' was entertainment. That medium producing entertainment then turns everything else in our lives into entertainment. Shows like the Magic School Bus turned education into entertainment, Shows like Joel Osteen and the 700 Club turned religion into entertainment, and even the news turned into pure entertainment. In Postman's opinion, and mine, news shows like FOX and CNN are not to deliver actual news; they serve to entertain. If they weren't, than newscasters would not have to wear makeup, and you'll notice that most if not all of them are attractive, young, and have the voice for reading things off a teleprompter, yet few of them are knowledgeable about the topics they are reading to millions of viewers nightly. News shows also only comment on stories for about 30 seconds to up to a few minutes, with a lack of context, and the commercial breaks in between alleviate any effectiveness that the stories may have on the audience. These shows basically take you on an emotional roller coaster, and play background music to cue how you should feel when you see the different stories they are broadcasting. We do not watch the news to be informed, so any psuedo- intellectual that brags about how much he/she watches the news is doing nothing more than entertaining themselves on a regular basis, nothing much to be proud of, because we all do that. Neil Postman wrote his book when the TV was the most widely used type of media of the time, and he wasn't worried about an apocalyptic Big Brother-esque era that Orwell feared in 1984. No, instead, he was concerned that our generation would drown in irrelevance, and he was right.
The problem with Generation Y, the Millennial generation, is we settled into a state of apathy and knowledge. We are acutely aware of the problems in society, yet we feel backed against a wall about them. What are we going to do to fix them? Nothing.
We are one of the only generations to appear to be past "culture wars," as we did not heavily rebel against our parents. Instead, we listen to much of the same music, watch similar TV and movies, and enjoy the same products. The New York times call us the entrepreneurial and 'post-emotional' generation. "No anger, no edge, no ego."
"This generation is also sometimes referred to as the Boomerang or Peter Pan Generation, because of the members' perceived penchant for delaying some rites of passage into adulthood, longer periods than most generations before them. These labels were also a reference to a trend toward members living with their parents for longer periods than previous generations. As a group, Generation Y are said to be much closer to their parents than their parents' generation. While 40% of Baby Boomers in 1974 claimed they would be "better off without their parents" according to one study, 90% of Generation Y'ers claimed to be "extremely close" to their parents in another study. Most also claim that the older generations had better morals"
We are not the peace and love movement of the 60's, the hip hop generation, the rage and angst generation, or even the MTV generation anymore. No, we are the hipsters, and we produce basically nothing of substance. According to a New York Magazine article, "The hipster movement did not produce artists, but tattoo artists. It did not yield a great literature, but it made good use of fonts."
Generation Y does not rely solely on the TV anymore. Every since the world wide web became readily available in 1991, we have become unimpressed and expect instantaneous gratification. Smartphones and the internet are our biggest source of media today, and it reflects upon all other aspects of our lives, according to medium theory. Think about when you make plans with a friend. How many times are your plans so concrete that you do not need to send them a text asking where or when you are exactly meeting? Not many. Our plans often have an essence of fluidity about them. They are changeable and wavering, as our lives are. We lack a great deal of structure and rely more on spontaneity. We are more peer oriented than any other time period before us, and the abundance of instant communication and media made that possible. The emergence of the internet, Youtube, email, text messaging, IM, Twitter, and Facebook contributes to the fact that we are the most hedonistic age group to date. We even expect friends at any time of the day or night, which is basically what Facebook is. We are constantly criticized for our lack of angst and are described as 'spent.' The 2000's produced no new, age defining music, but instead, has been attributed with an overload of autotune, built on the foundations of R&B and hip hop from the 90's. We merely revive styles of past decades but fail to create anything new.
So here's what I'm saying:
Get angsty. Get angry. Get edgy.
Just get going.
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