Social networking websites like MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo are all over the internet and today’s youth are spending a lot of time using these sites to make friends and does time pass.
How is public life changed by social technology? How the properties of meddled
publics like social network sites different from unmeddled publics? We have to explore the social dynamics of meddled public life in order to help marketers understand their role in socializing.
It is difficult to define what is public and what is private. Especially in technology circles, these terms are seen as two sides of same coin. A more liberal definition suggests allowing the two terms to sit at opposite ends of a pole, giving us the ability to judge just how public or private a particular event or place is. Unfortunately this too seems ill equipped to handle the disruption of meddling technology. What it means to be public or private is quickly changing every moment.
Today’s youth are being socialized into a society complicated by shifts in the public and private. New social technologies have altered the underlying structure of social interaction and information dispersal. They are embracing this change. Meanwhile, most adults are frightened. They do not understand the cultural shifts that are taking place and as is always the case, they don’t like or understand the happenings.
This leaves educationists in a peculiar dilemma. More conservative educationists view social technologies as a product of the evil, which corrupts and destroys youth.
Their turn a blind eye to the happenings and hope that the moral panics and chaos that surround the social technologies will just disappear. A third group of educationists are emerging – those who believe that it is essential to understand and embrace the new social technologies so as to guide youth through the difficult situation prevalent at present. This path is tricky because it requires educationists to let go of their pre-existing assumptions about how the world works. Furthermore, as youth are far more flexible at adapting to newer technologies through which these changes are taking place, educationists must learn from their students in order to help them work through the challenges that they face.
Educationists have a very powerful role to play in helping smooth the cultural transition that is taking place. We just hope that they take on the issue with all force.