Argumentative Blog - ”Generation online” use media for communication rather than information.

"”Generation online” use media for communication rather than information."

In one way the statement is true, but in another it is untrue. People do use facebook a lot, in fact there are more than 500.000 accounts on facebook right now, but does that mean they don’t use the media for information as well? When I log on facebook I often get a lot of information from the links and updates, my friends post. I have to admit I use it for communicating too, as it is a great tool if you are working in a group and have to talk to the other members of your group. If we could not use the internet to communicate, we would have to meet up somewhere to talk it over, which requires both more time, and more planning.

The thing about information is that we only have to look for specific information, and when we have found what we are looking for, there’s no reason to keep looking. Whereas communication can happen all the time, and there isn’t really any barriers as to what we can talk about. According to the Facebook Statistics, Stats and Facts for 2011 there are being posted 1 million links and 1,5 million status updates every 20 minutes, and most likely a lot of them will be updates with information. But then we can also ask ourselves, what is information? Is it brief news of what has been happening in the world, or is it all the information found in the encyclopedias, e.g. Wikipedia.

I don’t see how it can be a problem to be social, rather than sitting on your own in front of a television. The “Generation online” are doing it because they have the choice to do so. I am pretty sure that if the Internet and facebook had been published earlier, it would have been that generation who we would be calling “Generation online”. This is just the generation who likes to be on facebook rather than surfing the encyclopedias for information that we do not have any interest in whatsoever. Basically there is a limited amount of information that is relevant to different people. Facebook has a lot more features than just normal chatting, people can join groups or play games, and in both they can communicate with people from all over the world.

Another good thing about being able to communicate online is that some people, who are very quiet beings in real life, actually find it easier to write with people over the internet, rather than talking with them in person. The facebook statistics actually show that 57% of all people talk to people more online, than they do in real life. Of course it is a good thing that everyone now has a chance to speak their minds, even if they are too shy to do it in real life, but there is also a negative:

If people spend too much time online and actually become afraid of living their real lives, they might cut all the connections they have with the real world and stay at their room in their parents’ house until they are 40 years old.

Basically, the media are made the way they are for a reason, so whether people want to use them for communicating or to search for information is their own choice. It is always a good idea to follow the news at least once a day, just to know what is happening in the world.