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Comment by raverbashing | Hacker News Reader

No, it's not the youth that has to get off their phones

It's the older generation. They are the ones lacking critical skills and ability to understand what goes on Fb, etc

Edit: I don't see why this is so controversial. Younger people do stupid stuff on their phones, but they're more open to learning from their mistakes

The older generation has a more inflexible mindset and hasn't been on the internet/social media for longer (most of them, which is probably not so much the demographic here, even for older HNs commenters)

I see how a lot of people behave today and it's how I behaved and felt for a good amount of time. But that wasn't on the hate melting pot of Facebook, it was on more spread out and on more niche sites.

Or spoken in other words: some things are better left on a pub brawl table not as a hard statement on social media.

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I actually think that the generation that was born with a technology also barely understands it.

How many kids really understand what FB is made of? How many of them really understand what the internet is? They don't, it's always been there, who cares?

There is this misconception that just because a kid can swipe and type super fast on their phone they are "tech literate". As someone who taught tech in school I've seen the exact opposite.

The scary part is those same individuals who have grown up with Facebook, et al. being ubiquitous, believe Facebook is the entirety of the internet.

This sounds mildly implausible given that Facebook is full of links to things that aren’t itself.

I'll tell you a story: I was born not so long ago, but before internet existed and I had my first connection at the age of 19 in 1995.

When I was a kid I grew up between the city and the country

I knew about animals, how they behaved, what they ate and what was their role (cows for milk, chickens made eggs, pigs for ham)

Fast forward 30 years, my nephews know every burger place around and where to eat the best chicken snacks but have never seen a chicken or a cow alive, the younger one was shocked when he discovered that chicken nuggets and fried potatoes don't exist in nature and they don't grow at the supermarket

It might look an extreme example, but as a tech worker I see that younger generations have a way to using technology that is more immediate but is also more shallow

They take it for granted, like it always existed and usually don't think about the downsides much the same way I didn't think of the downside of using the car every time I needed to move

To make an hyperbole, there have been a generation that was born when fascism was established and for them fascism was normal

It's hard to see something from the outside when you are literally born in it and it's the only form you have experienced it

> It might look an extreme example, but as a tech worker I see that younger generations have a way to using technology that is more immediate but is also more shallow

Perfectly described. And yes, this is a factor.

But though it is more shallow technically, I think it's a more profound connection socially (while lacking the life experience of the older generations).

Think of the "dangers" every parent warns their kids against. They're right in spirit but they're outdated in the technology/methods (and think they are immune to it - or maybe they never were)

How does the older generation getting off their phones help them to understand "what goes on Fb", let alone help them gain critical skills (which seems far fetched)?

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