We are the Internet

While watching Michael Welch talk during The Machine is Changing Us I found him to be making many claims that pertained closely to my peers and I. As with many things said about the Internet generation, I could have been offended, but I mostly found myself just agreeing with him and wanting to prove him right. Generations evolving with their own “I don’t care attitude” have been created, with narcissism and a focus on viral popularity.

I feel like that is me to a “T.” I admit I am always trying to portray an attitude of “I think I’m hot” even on days when I’m wearing sweats and have my hair thrown in a ponytail. As far as Internet popularity goes, I (figuratively) cry myself to sleep every night because my little sister has over 2,000 followers on her Tumblr blog while I have 176 followers. I mean she is not flashy about it, she even promotes my blog every once in a while. All though, my self-esteem has been so heavily imbedded in this blog that when she receives messages subsequently following my promotion saying that “that was a dumb hipster blog” I literally cannot blog for days after. I am one of those teenagers that wants Internet popularity and it sucks!

Welch went on to discuss how MTV was a major player in the generation gap and that “whatever” and “meh” have been coined to label our careless nature. Okay, I understand. Can I make a shirt now that say “meh” with the MTV “M?” seriously though, between my boyfriend and I, we probably use “meh” in our texts 100 times a day! Before watching the lecture I had no idea where “meh” came from, I just know that it is a staple of my vocabulary.

It is not just that Welch was describing how younger people act, but it is how I aspire to act. I want to be “meh” and Internet famous all at the same time. I obviously cannot speak for all teens and college students, but I along with some of my closer friends are the epitome of Michael Welch’s words. My roommate was vlogging the other night talking about “how I don’t know how to vlog” for goodness sake. We live in front of cameras and we demand your views. I am not ashamed to be this way, maybe I will be embarrassed about this way of life someday, but for now I am soaking it up all I can.