McMillan & Morrison Coming of age with the Internet

Kaima Dunbar

I found this reading very interesting and it made me think about my relationship with the internet. “While some informants found the internet allowed for the creation of a new persona that could be accepted “as is”, others found that the new self they had developed through their online activities was alienated.”(Coming of age with the internet pg. 78) I remember my earlier years of becoming a teenager I was very addicted to the internet to be exact teen chat rooms. Just like Brian brother Mark in one of the interviews, I and my friends would spend hours online to the point I was on the computer all night. Just like Mark we all had different online identities. I don’t think this is very healthy for developing minds. But on the other hand, “the experience of personal development through online media use was primarily positive. Some saw it as a natural and necessary part of human evolution: I think people were born to enjoy interactivity and love communicating interactively.” (Coming of age with the internet pg. 80) I also agree and can relate to that statement as well. I feel like the internet is one of the best parts of new technology and for people who don’t know how to use the internet it can be a big disadvantage when applying for jobs or even job hunting these days.


Questions/Comments

In this day and age we have to learn how to use the internet; it’s a big part of society. But with so many of are adolescent becoming addicted, where do we draw the line?

Links

http://www.netaddiction.com/