I think Postman hits the nail on the head for us. I wonder now what the influence of television is on younger generations. I don't think they watch it nor care about it the way we once did. I don't think it holds them they way it held us. I also think that the shared experience of television is gone. Where we all watched something and talked about it the next day.
The younger generations are not watching the news, of TV shows, or any of that. I mean they may want some, those America or Britian's got talent shows. However, I don't think television is an influencer to them. They mostly look at their phones, TikTok, YouTube, and whatever social media they are into. As I understand it FaceBook is for older people now.
The younger generations watch whatever they are into on their phones. It dwarfs the 400 cable channels we once knew. We thought that provided a huge selection and complained little of it was of interest. Now, there are millions of content creators churning out stuff multiple times a day at a rate we can barely comprehend. I think probably what that does is adds to the splintering of our society because now when you talk to someone about what they watched...well...the selection is so vast there is a good chance others have never even heard of what someone else is watching.
They aren't watching the news. They don't have Fox turned on. That stuff is for old people. So, whichever news you choose, it is not going to be having an impact on young people. They seem much more interested in what other people are saying on the internet. What they are doing on TikTok or whatever the preferred platform is.
We watch the news, we are old enough to remember a time when the news was not at all like what passes for news now. Due to the internet, sourcing stuff no longer matters. You run with the rumor or story that is spreading fastest and drop it as soon as the new story hits. We know that's foolish, because we lived through times where that did not happen.
News channels, the way they present the news now, the way that people that were born after the internet was available, and smart phones were in every hand...this is no longer how they take stuff in. I think news channels are a mess, they don't appeal to young people and they are not reaching them.
We live in the age of opinion and belief now, and you can find a person or persons on the internet that express ones you like. Not the truth, not facts, opinions and beliefs that work for you. It means we are disconnected as a society as to what is actually happening. Dangerous and easy to manipulate.
