Elijah Maynes Wikipedia Initial Entry March 13, 2018
This new technological era that we live into today has, undoubtedly, resonated throughout planet and brought about an immeasurable amount of change in cultures, businesses, and media. Arguments persist to this day, regarding the positives and negatives of this wave of new technology, and whether we are ultimately benefitting from it or not. Personally, I believe with advancements in communication, health, and research, we are much more efficient collectively as a species and better off in that regard. However, I do believe that the influx of technology that we are living in now has a hidden impact that many seem to be blind to. A result of our exposure to these new technological advancements means more exposure to the lives of others. This exposure manifests itself as connecting Facebook feeds, posts by Instagram followers and Twitter threads. At first glance, this exposing to others lives seems to be an advantage of this new age rather than a disadvantage, but further examination of the situation can reveal a negative implication. The more people one individual knows and sees on a daily basis, the more susceptible that individual is to want (or need) to emulate these people. In simpler terms, the idea and concept of a “role model” has been changed over the years just as technology has. If a young child has been watching a "YouTuber" or "Vlogger" all his or her life, it only makes sense that these children would eventually grow up to act similar to said YouTuber or Vlogger. Even this is not necessarily a problem. There are youtubers and vloggers online that I would trust as good role models and I believe it comes down to filtering out the positive and wholesome media figures from the negative ones. The true problem, I believe, is as a result of this excess of “role models”. Children, and young adults are relying now on the internet to fill missing gaps in their personalities and identities. Prior to this technological age, people became complete, meaning that they have their own character, based on their own specific experiences and life occurrences. What we have in society today, are people who instead of looking to their own life for influence, look online to a media user. These celebrities have millions upon thousands of followers and and many other people are looking up to them with the same intention. This results in millions upon thousands of kids and young adults copying their identity to be more like their “role model”. All of this will eventually lead to the standardization of generations and a loss of interest and usage of many aspects of life. This also leads to a more impressionable community with less natural impulses and thoughts specific to them. One of the most dangerous things in this world are people without their own passions and beliefs as they are the ones who commit crimes, associate themselves with terrorists, and create chaos. They are ushered into that life because there were no other causes that influenced them. This issue can be resolved by a regulatory reminder by parents and teachers to establish a strong identity with firm feelings and beliefs. Parents should talk to their children and encourage them to take their own stance against pressing issues and decisions and allow them to make up their own identity rather than search online for it. The objective in all this would be to breed a more autonomous generation that prioritizes the initial formation of their character before allowing themselves to be molded by these online role models. With a population that has developed on their own, several issues throughout the world might be resolved. Often, others will simply pick up someone else’s values and cadences, with no justification besides the fact that they might “like” this person. The danger in this is now is the internal conflict many face that question who they really are. This internal conflict often results in violence, aggression, and overall negative behavior. These people are often chastised for their behavior and no further questions are asked. Ultimately, this trend has potential to decline if we, as a population, dedicate ourselves to the cause of promoting “self-thinking and self-development” to the population that will come after.