How Millenials and Gen Zs are Changing Society Through the Internet
Younger generations have discovered the power of a connected world, but how is our Internet use shaping modern society?
The Internet has become essential to our everyday lives; we use it everywhere and all the time. We need the Internet to communicate with others, drive, cook, and to understand the world around us. Being online has become a necessity more than a luxury when wanting to evolve in this ever-changing digital world. According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2016, around 89 percent of households in America had access to computers with Internet, proving that most U.S. residents spend a significant portion of their time online¹.
Naturally, the events that have marked this point in history have been heavily influenced by the Internet. Words written online are slowly shaping our future rather than the words written by traditional media outlets. While being online for more extended periods of time may not be the best for our physical or mental health, the Internet has proven to help our society evolve through the power of a straightforward post.
Teaching Others Our Way of Doing Things
Having such a powerful connectivity tool in the palm of our hands has been beneficial for our societal development. However, our use of these tools largely depends on how old we are. The Pew research center found that Internet dependence is at its highest in teenagers between the ages of 15 and 16². Since teenagers grew up in a world where this tool was a part of their everyday lives, they tend to have the highest rate of Internet use. They also are the most criticized age group for their online habits.
While the screentime for younger generations has increased exponentially, older age subgroups have also fallen into using the Internet on a regular basis. In the United States around ninety-three percent of millennials (aged between 23 and 38) own a smartphone, but what about the older subgroups?
Around 90% of Gen Xers (those aged between 39 and 54), 68% of Baby Boomers (55 to 73-year olds), and 40% of the Silent Generation (between 74 and 91-years old) also have access to the Internet and social media through their cellphones³. These older subgroups felt intimidated by a digital world, nowadays, most of them have at least one form of social media to interact with each other. Younger generations have achieved something incredible then, they have made their parents and grandparents dependent on the Internet.
Evoking Change Online
While some might criticize our society’s internet habits, there is no doubt that the hours we have spent online have also been used to evoke some much-needed social change. After all, social networks provide not only a platform for people to exchange ideas but also a more straightforward way to participate in activist causes⁴. This means that others do not have to wait to call a social injustice or to state that a particular behavior is wrong, they can do it from the comfort of their own home while at the same time communicating with others who believe in the same thing.
The phenomenon of “Cancel Culture” grew as a result of this social media activism. Cancel culture can be seen as an extension of call-out culture: the natural escalation from pointing out a problem to calling for the head of the person who caused it⁵. While calling out people on social media is not the perfect way to ask or fight for a change, our access to the rest of the world at the tip of our fingers has brought social awareness to an all-time high. Remarkable movements such as #BringBackOurGirls in 2014, #MeToo, and #MarchForOurLives have made our society more conscious about the decisions our governments take and how much they impact our lives.
Public figures such as Greta Thunberg have achieved to spread their message to the masses through the use of the Internet. A powerful speech such as Malala’s address to the United Nations in 2013 or Emma Watson’s presentation about the He for She movement to the UN can become viral in an instant. Younger generations are no longer afraid to speak out about unjust acts or reforms because they know that their voice can be heard all around the world.
A Connected Society
Spending extended periods of time online and depending on our internet connectivity for most of our daily activities is helping evolve into a better and more conscious society.
The Internet is allowing us to become more critical about the information handed to us; we now realize that not everything we see on the news is necessarily the truth. It has helped impart realistic social and political change when needed, and it is changing the way many people see the world. We no longer have to step outside our homes to become interested in what is happening to others; we can just log online and see how the rest live their daily lives.
Our Internet use comes with many benefits and disadvantages, we can create and find great things online, but we also have the power to destroy and inflict others with it. The Internet will continue to shape the society we are living in, as a world without this powerful tool has now become a fantasy.
¹ “Computer and Internet Use” (2012). In U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/topics/population/computer-internet.html
² Vogels, E. A. (2019, September 9). Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations also embrace digital life. In Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/09/us-generations-technology-use/
³ Harris, S. (2019, April 18). How baby boomers use the Internet. In All Connect. Retrieved from https://www.allconnect.com/blog/baby-boomers-and-the-internet
⁴ Thomson, K. (2018, July 12). Social Media Activism and the #MeToo Movement. In Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@kmthomson.11/social-media-activism-and-the-metoo-movement-166f452d7fd2
⁵ Romano, A. (2019, December 30). Why we can’t stop fighting about cancel culture. In Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-debate
