The Student Room Group

The irony of our generation

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Original post by Birkenhead
I was talking about the subject, in this case to 'exchange the idea' that it wasn't a subject worth discussing. Pretty valuable discussion really, since it makes sure any further discussion isn't a complete waste of people's time, which in this case it is, since their opinions will almost certainly be repeated on any one of the hundreds of news website comment sections, thousands of blogs and TSR threads where this discussion has already taken place countless times.


Is there any idea that's brand new on TSR? Anything at all? Except the obvious troll posts??

Anyway this is a clear waste of my time. The irony is that this thread would have been dormant if you didn't keep on posting here, thereby contributing to it being up for discussion anyway.
Reply 21
I agree with you. I don't know if it's just me but after being bullied quite a bit at high school, the Internet definitely gave me a false sense of security, Facebook friends, followers etc.made me feel better about myself and as a result it was so easy to feel comforted and pretend in your mind that those 'friends' were satisfying enough.
The Internet is dangerous, like you said very addictive, and ironically, these social networks are making us anti-social.

I'm not saying that I never use the Internet any more, I do use it a lot but I've realised that socialising with someone face to face is so much more rewarding. I just hope that our generation can continue, like our parents/grandparents (who don't really understand our need for technology) to want to socialise away from phones and the Internet, otherwise the generations to come will be robots...

Also I'm shocked at how many kids I know who have iPads, laptops and iPhones. What is up with that?!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Molls94
I agree with you. I don't know if it's just me but after being bullied quite a bit at high school, the Internet definitely gave me a false sense of security, Facebook friends, followers etc.made me feel better about myself and as a result it was so easy to feel comforted and pretend in your mind that those 'friends' were satisfying enough.
The Internet is dangerous, like you said very addictive, and ironically, these social networks are making us anti-social.

I'm not saying that I never use the Internet any more, I do use it a lot but I've realised that socialising with someone face to face is so much more rewarding. I just hope that our generation can continue, like our parents/grandparents (who don't really understand our need for technology) to want to socialise away from phones and the Internet, otherwise the generations to come will be robots...

Also I'm shocked at how many kids I know who have iPads, laptops and iPhones. What is up with that?!

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That's the shocking part, how are 10 year olds having iPhone 5's? Truly shocking...

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Original post by Eva.Gregoria
Is there any idea that's brand new on TSR? Anything at all? Except the obvious troll posts??


It's a matter of degree. The old question about whether the internet is degrading our face-to-face time and abilities is far more worn-out than most. You can get all of the opinions in countless places elsewhere. Other discussions that have been trodden into the ground are just as irritating.

Anyway this is a clear waste of my time. The irony is that this thread would have been dormant if you didn't keep on posting here, thereby contributing to it being up for discussion anyway.


I only keep responding because you responded initially and I don't think it polite to walk away from questions like the one at the top of this response. Besides, we're not bandying about clone opinions anymore, we're having a fresh discussion about whether the original discussion should be continued.
Original post by Birkenhead
It's a matter of degree. The old question about whether the internet is degrading our face-to-face time and abilities is far more worn-out than most. You can get all of the opinions in countless places elsewhere. Other discussions that have been trodden into the ground are just as irritating.

I only keep responding because you responded initially and I don't think it polite to walk away from questions like the one at the top of this response. Besides, we're not bandying about clone opinions anymore, we're having a fresh discussion about whether the original discussion should be continued.


Ok, give me one example of an article or thread which mirrors this one. Just one.

Hopefully, you get bored and bugger off.
Original post by Eva.Gregoria
Ok, give me one example of an article or thread which mirrors this one. Just one.

Hopefully, you get bored and bugger off.


I've gone one further. Or, to be more precise, 128,000,000 further. And that's only Google!

Here is the Google result for 'technology destroying real relationships', which is what this tired discussion ponders. I think you'll find the internet is teeming with the very same opinions and questions raised in this thread.

You really know how to ask all of the wrong questions!
I dont fully agree, what if one guy meets a girl in the pub and they are both addicted to internet ?? Then i think it would be a perfect mariage..
Original post by Birkenhead
I've gone one further. Or, to be more precise, 128,000,000 further. And that's only Google!

Here is the Google result for 'technology destroying real relationships', which is what this tired discussion ponders. I think you'll find the internet is teeming with the very same opinions and questions raised in this thread.

You really know how to ask all of the wrong questions!


I'm not really bothered anyway, I have freedom of speech! If I want to make a thread, I will. :cool:

You know what, you're still contributing to the resurrection of a thread I long ago thought was dead.

Now I'm off.

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If anything I feel as if the majority of people have dumbed down, become watered with no substance about them.
Everything seems to be a lot more 'meh'..
(edited 10 years ago)
Not really. I think ppl who would have already have been socially awkward gravitate to TSR. Other ppl, still do there stuff.
Original post by Eva.Gregoria
Do you agree that the recent advancements in technology and social networking (this includes smartphones, facebook, and we all know TSR), is indirectly causing us to drift apart socially in real life and spend most of our time online?

With all of these methods that we can use to instantly communicate with the rest of the world within seconds and the world becoming more and more like a global village are we becoming more and more secluded and less reliant on real life relationships? We would think that with all this technology, we have the opportunity to make even more friends, but are we replacing real life interactions and friend making with our online friends? Is it healthy? In decades past, you would be almost forced to engage with people around you even if you found it hard because you had no choice.

I won't sit here and point fingers because I do it too. In the past, I had many online friends and I thought, if I have so many online friends, why bother making friends in the real world? Either way I still have friends. But in reality, my social skills deteriorated, I became socially awkward and couldn't hold a meaningful conversation with most people. This is because in my opinion, online friends give us a false sense of security. A lot of us weren't remotely popular at school, or were bullied or were shy but online we can be anything! We can talk how we like and reveal our thoughts without fear behind an anonymous screen. This then makes us feel like real life is quite inadequate and doesn't fulfill our need to be who we want to be without reproach from others. The online world is like a drug. The more time you spend on it, the more time you need to spend on it to feel the same sense of happiness as you did initially.

And maybe its the pessimist in me talking but it seems to affect a lot of our generation and increasingly, it seems. Do you think our lack of adequate social skills is due to the internet?

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I agree we're all spending less time being sociable in real life.

But your social skills shouldn't be deteriorating. It's pretty easy to get off your backside and forget about your 'internet friends'. There's plenty of things (including stuff that doesn't involve socialising) to distract you from it. The real world is just outside and the same as ever. If the internet is becoming your drug, you have deep-rooted issues.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Eva.Gregoria
Do you agree that the recent advancements in technology and social networking (this includes smartphones, facebook, and we all know TSR), is indirectly causing us to drift apart socially in real life and spend most of our time online?

With all of these methods that we can use to instantly communicate with the rest of the world within seconds and the world becoming more and more like a global village are we becoming more and more secluded and less reliant on real life relationships? We would think that with all this technology, we have the opportunity to make even more friends, but are we replacing real life interactions and friend making with our online friends? Is it healthy? In decades past, you would be almost forced to engage with people around you even if you found it hard because you had no choice.

I won't sit here and point fingers because I do it too. In the past, I had many online friends and I thought, if I have so many online friends, why bother making friends in the real world? Either way I still have friends. But in reality, my social skills deteriorated, I became socially awkward and couldn't hold a meaningful conversation with most people. This is because in my opinion, online friends give us a false sense of security. A lot of us weren't remotely popular at school, or were bullied or were shy but online we can be anything! We can talk how we like and reveal our thoughts without fear behind an anonymous screen. This then makes us feel like real life is quite inadequate and doesn't fulfill our need to be who we want to be without reproach from others. The online world is like a drug. The more time you spend on it, the more time you need to spend on it to feel the same sense of happiness as you did initially.

And maybe its the pessimist in me talking but it seems to affect a lot of our generation and increasingly, it seems. Do you think our lack of adequate social skills is due to the internet?

Posted from TSR Mobile


I absolutely believe this. I've been seeing it manifest over the years.

I'm showing my age here but I remember when MSN became a big deal and chat rooms became main stream instead of just for forever alone types. That was the start of this whole thing. It was almost overnight how things like body language and other essential facets of communication went out the window for a lot of people.

Then it was Faceparty, then Myspace, then Facebook, then Twitter, Instagram and so on. You could potentially have what passes these days as a social life without ever actually being face-to-face with anybody at all. You could get a date without even having to go to talk to somebody.

Starting with my age group, people who were not naturally good at socialising or properly communicating never had to anymore. Previously these people would be forced to practice this in order to do anything or have any friends or relationships and the practice would make them at least mediocre.

I do however think that all of this is but a consequence of a bigger thing. It's incredible how we can exchange ideas and communicate (albeit not fully) with people from all over the world in an instant. It is no doubt a great advancement of our species.

People may lose out in some ways, such as never learning to interact with people as they were never forced to, but gain in others such as having access to every conceivable idea and theory to use for their advancement.
Having met my last 2 boyfriends on the internet, I for one welcome our new all consuming overlord.

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