Dear Samantha Taylor,

I recently came of across your article in The Times newspaper and I found it to be an unfair representation of young people and how they are supposedly like. After reading your article I felt it was important to dispel these unfair rumours that describe young people to be something they’re clearly not. As a young person myself I found these claims to be disrespectful. I am in agreement with you when you stated in your article that accounts of pornography addiction and of aggression supposedly caused by violent video games, particularly now that Grand Theft Auto V has hit the shelves, do not really reflect the great mass of everyday teenage social behaviour. But as you said these few accounts of these reported real life events do not express the social behaviour of a great amount of young people. I believe this as a young person. I personally, nor my friends, have not come across any of the aggression you speak of associated with violent game or pornographic addiction.

 

In your article Jonathan Franzen uses the words and phrases    “shallow and trivial culture…kids unable to socialize face to face” My opinion differs from this, because Shallow is the exact opposite of what young people are. The culture created through online socializing is much more complex and sophisticated than it is portrayed. Jonathan Franzen assumes that social media is used for just trivial uses such as uploading pictures etc. However many other young people and I have used Facebook as a learning resource, to do so we had to make and find and research the information necessary make it, now does these actions reflect that of idle uses? Moreover youth use these social platforms to express themselves as well as things that matter to them. A lot of youth use Facebook to express themselves through writing. As lots of youth write stories or poems. Not only this youth use social network to campaign or advertise their business. A young man with the name of Jeremiah used social media to gain votes for Lambeth Youth Mayor. Now these are clear examples of the many constructive ways in which youth use the social media.

Just because a relationship is formed online, it doesn’t mean it is less meaningful. In the article it is suggested that “Social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world”. I think this remark is completely unfair because people can start meaningful relationships online even if you have not met in person. Moreover relationships formed online through social networks or dating can develop into something much more meaningful.This is evident as statistics show that a third of marriages in the U.S are started through dating websites. I believe that relationships fostered on the internet do not affect other relationships formed in real life. Not only this, but it develops less meaningful relationships as social networks allow you to have hundreds of friends that you may know but not speak to however it gives you a chance to strengthen weaker bonds.

 

Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings of another. The American comedian Louis CK proclaimed on TV that he wouldn’t give his daughters mobile phones for fear they wouldn’t develop empathy. However, social networks give us a platform in which we can share our feelings and also read and hear about others personal experiences so in a sense it can further develop our empathy.

 

The way in which he described youth and the affect social networks had on young people were completely wrong. Seeing that article I felt it was my responsibility as a young person myself to dismiss these inaccurate facts about youth. as I found it offensive, if I didn’t confront these rumours who would? As well as this these absurd opinions and stereotypes of youth could sway the opinions of others bringing more of these negative opinion of young people furthering the gap between adults and youths relations. which i feel is already an issue in society.

Yours Sincerely, Reeise Wallace