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Comment by standardUser | Hacker News Reader

If I didn't watch the Simpsons, play Nintendo and listen to the local alt rock radio station when I was a kid, I would have had very little in common with my peers. Same situation today, just different media. Turns out, shared experiences facilitate bonding. Who knew?

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Funny, I didn't watch the Simpsons or listen to alt rock radio, but I had no issues socializing or finding friends. Turns out no one thinks the Simpsons or and alt-rock are essentials to children being able to properly socialize with one another. And yet people are arguing that social media, despite all its harmful effects, can't be withheld from a child without damaging them.

My parents did not let me watch Simpsons or any other American media, and I think it hampered my socializing. You either have to fake it to be in the conversation at school, or you just stay silent while everyone is talking about music/movies/tv show.

I basically learned how to lie, sneak around, and keep two separate worlds going, as long as I needed my parents’ financial support.

How much of youth culture while you were growing up was shaped by the Simpsons and alt rock, and how much of youth culture today is shaped by the internet and social media?

I would argue that almost all of Gen-Z culture today is driven by internet communities and social media, and raising a child without access to online media will make it difficult for them to relate to many (not necessarily all) of their peers.

I find it odd that you didn't need shared cultural experiences to bond with people in childhood. Not funny, just odd.

My point is that the Simpsons, like social media, is a single potential shared cultural experience out of many. I'm not arguing against shared cultural experiences, I'm simply arguing that social media isn't the only one out there and is therefore replaceable. Anyone who thinks the modern human experience has nothing outside of social media or the Simpsons should perhaps unplug, and as they say, "touch grass".

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