Media and Technology Critique: Facebook’s World Domination

The dawn of the 21^st century marks the shift into an era where technology dominates our daily lives. Two year olds who can barely speak in complete sentences can easily open up an iPad and navigate through the multitude of icons and tabs to play their games or start a storytelling app. The center of many classrooms today is no longer dominated by chalkboards but rather smartboards. Education is now, more than ever before, intimately intertwined with media and technology.

One media platform – amongst many – that emerged from the technology era is Facebook. A social media giant, Facebook changed the way in which people stay connected and share information. We are no longer dependent on phone calls and outings to catch up. Instead, Facebook made it very simple for all your friends – or at least, the ones that use Facebook – to know what you ate for lunch this very instant if you so choose to post onto your Facebook timeline. Furthermore, Facebook plays a role in changing the educational landscape amongst adolescents as well. Before the arrival of Facebook and other social media giants, students are more likely to physically meet up to study for tests and do homework with only their classmates and friends from the same class, and seek out their teachers after school or during lunch for additional assistance. Back in the days of snail mail and Windows 97, there was more physical interpersonal communication however information definitely took a lot longer to be transmitted amongst a group of students from different classes and periods. With the arrival of Facebook and the technology boom, students can easily form private Facebook groups and upload study notes for specific classes, be it AP U.S. History or English Literature, and share it amongst the fifty or a hundred kids that takes the same class with same teacher but in different periods. When students have trouble answering a question for homework that is due the next day, they can easily, with a few taps on the keyboard and a simple click of the mouse, send a request for help to the Facebook group. Most importantly, from the perspective of the adolescents, they know that they would get help and most likely an answer very quickly. Facebook in a sense provides a safe, positive, and convenient platform for students, especially those who are more introverted or do not do as well in academia, to give and ask for aid without feeling embarrassed or shy.

From an educator’s perspective, Facebook too can be a valuable learning tool. Just as students can form private groups to share notes and discuss about homework, educators can use this function to encourage students to engage in an informal discussion about certain topics with the aid of prompts. If you are a history teacher and the class is about to study the Great Depression, you can post prompts such as “what do you think are some of the main causes for the Great Depression?” to push the students to begin thinking about the topic and to actively participate in the class.

“Young adolescence sets into motion a search for identities: social, gender, ethnic, cultural, familial, socioeconomic, and spiritual, all related to who they think they are now and who they want to become as adults. Their futures lives seem more immediate to them, although they are years from taking on the responsibilities of mature adults. / Beliefs related to their own maturity lead to many assumptions and much confusion about how much independence they have, are entitled to, and want.”

Brown,D. & Knowles, T. (2007). Who am I? The Social, Emotional, and Identity Trials of Young Adolescence. In What every middle school teacher should know. (2^nd Ed., pp.37-66). New Hampshire: Heinemann Press.

While we are now passed the age of adolescence, I’m sure most of us can still remember the mischiefs we raised as adolescents and the feeling of being “mature” or “old enough” to make our own decisions, when in reality, we were still very much a child heavily dependent on our parents and families.

Things such as “hanging with the right crowd,” “wearing fashionable clothes,” “being accepted,” and “getting a bad grade on the first marking period in seventh grade” in retrospect, really does not matter years down the road, however, for adolescents, these factors that determine their “status” in school are critical. To the minds of adolescents, the consequences associated with these things are huge and will impact their lives “forever.” This mindset truly brings unneeded mental pressure and anxiety, yet, for most adolescents, this process is something that can’t be skipped, and thus educators and parents must keep this in mind when trying to understand an adolescent and his/her actions. In short, something that seems to be rather nominal to an adult is astronomical to an adolescent and shouldn’t be brushed aside.

In today’s technological age and society, it becomes even more essential for teachers and parents to be vigilant. Children can easily put things up onto the World Wide Web in a moment of extreme emotions or rush that they might end up regretting later on or frankly, even forgetting about it and not know that whatever they posted on the web might hurt another person. Adolescents too should be more self-aware and vigilant when expressing themselves on the web. Perhaps a mini course or unit should be taught to adolescents about cyber bullying, the Internet and its consequences when self-expression is used without thoughts of the feelings of others especially peers.

“Understanding the Young Adolescent’s Physical and Cognitive Growth”

“Young adolescent development does not follow a strict timeline. Individual differences occur both between and within each gender.”

This quote addresses one of the most important issues that educators and parents must keep in their minds when working with adolescents. There are so many changes and growth that are occurring in the bodies of adolescents, that often, adolescents themselves are confused and even scared. Hormones are often added into the mix with the arrival of periods and breast development for girls and wet dreams and body hair for boys and growth spurts as well at different time intervals for each child. This can create a sense of insecurity for young adolescents, which may be expressed through emotional outbreaks, obsession with mirrors and self images, and small rebellions among other things. Parents and teachers should understand the changes that adolescents are going through and act as guides to help them in this transition and to be a source of accurate information for the young adolescents. Additionally, as the reading had warned, adults need to also keep in mind that regardless of how “mature” or “adult like” adolescents may look on the outside, they are still children.

“Long Road to Adulthood is Growing Even Longer” Cohen

“For many, by choice or circumstance, independence no longer begins at 21.”

This quote succinctly describes the society that we currently live in today and really put into focus the changing definition of what is “adulthood.” Back in the days, a person is considered an adult at the age of 18, and by age 21, one should already be independent financially. Many are already in the process of buying their first homes, creating their own family, and starting their own careers. However, now, that line is blurred. Even though in the eyes of the law, one is legally an adult at 18 and can legally drink by the age of 21, the reality is that for many “young adults,” “adulthood” is still a far away concept. For many, getting married and starting a family this early on into their lives is unthinkable. Some are in the process of finishing their undergraduate career and heading off into graduate school or their PhD program. Others are preparing to go into the workforce or taking a “gap year.” The 21^st century atmosphere we are in today is that for many “young adults” at this age, complete financial independence is unrealistic, especially with student loans and cost of living (e.g.: NYC). Yet, while financial independence may be difficult to achieve for some, I think that parents, educators, and society need to promote and nurture a sense of independence within “young adults;” we need to equip these “young adults” with the tools necessary to become independent and sometimes for parents, that means to let their child deal with the consequences of their mistakes.