Stephen PrenticeWell, perhaps I mean Social Networking sites generally, but I kind of like the aliteration!
Christmas is one of those times of the year when tradition and family tend to come closer to the surface, and a surfeit of turkey and old movies on the TV do tend to encourage thoughtful consideration of the changes since last year. And frankly I am appalled, or at the very least concerned and depressed!
We had a houseful at Christmas but it rapidly became clear that the current generation of teenagers (and here I must admit that as a parent I must bear some responsibility) is less interested in in their real family and more interested in their digital one. This is a generation that is so well tuned in to their digital lifestyle and online, virtual community that they have, to all intents and purposes, abandoned their genetic family ties. They can sit in a room of people with a notebook on their lap, watching TV, apparently participating and all the time they are exchanging messages with their online friends (generally about how tedious it all is!). When questioned about the etiquette of typing whilst in company I got the kind of pitying look that implied that I was the disfunctional one! Maybe I’m just getting too old for this – but guys like me, when they have passed fifty, are entitled to get increasingly grumpy, especially at Christmas!!!
Looking back it has been happening for at least the past year – ever seen a teenager who is not online? Ever had a face to face conversation brutally cut short by an incoming text message that simply must be answered immediately? But over the holiday period the changing behaviour of the next generation has been unmistakeable. Most parents look forward to the day when their offspring finally “leave the nest”, but the truth is that they seem to have flown already, at least in mind. Unfortunately, their bodies remain, leaving their clothes strewn around the house and demanding food at all times of the day of night. Just don’t expect to have a sensible conversation anymore!
Facebook, and the host of other social networking sites, in collaboration with the mobile phone industry (or at least the text messaging part – actually speaking with someone on a mobile phone is so uncool!), have seduced our kids without us actually realising it! The next generation has discovered a new, digital family in cyberspace that appears to be much more interesting and engaging than anything they find in the real world.
We speak with many enterprises struggling with the challenge of meeting the expectations of their employees to be able to access social networking sites from their working environment and there is no doubt that this is a challenging dilemma. But if family ties cannot enforce even a temporary abstinence from their online community, then what hope is there for the CIO?
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