a submission to my adolescent development class

In complete honesty, I may be one of the biggest hypocrites when talking about connectivity and development. I have worked for apple and have the entire line up of connectivity gadgets at my disposal. iPhone, iPod, iPad, 2 apple computers, and a debt load to show for it. So when I say that the drive to being connected is more often detrimental to positive social development, it is rather ironic.

The main reason I believe it is actually slowing the social development of adolescents is because it causes most people to get caught up in the "thick of thin things" as I like to call it. Being connected at a young age through text messaging, Facebook, and apps usually allows for the negation of the physical presence. I would dare say that most youth in the Jr. high to High school and early college age are replacing meaningful relationships with a cyber presence where you can define yourself based on your prowess with a keyboard. In face to face social interaction there is always a certain level of identity that you show to people regardless of effort. When the relationships are mostly lived in the air or online I believe that we often assume a persona of the person we would like to be. We become selective in our replies to sms messaging, we spend time contemplating whether or not our status on Facebook sounds pathetic, bitter, or if it is funny enough. In the near future I would expect to see studies on what may be called "cyber self esteem" in adolescents.

But despite all those cons to connectivity, I do see a bright side to youth being connected at a young age. This is the technology of the next great era. Familiarity will be crucial if this generation wants to succeed. There are a number of examples where having a life on Facebook has helped a young man or woman. Most anybody on Facebook has seen at least one or two status updates per day about how someone was struggling with something or needed help. The ability to be connected without a physical presence allows for more people to come to the aid of a suffering adolescent (or adult) and let them know they are not alone.

I think that for adolescents and adults alike a moderated amount of connectivity can be part of a very fulfilling life and be very productive and fun. But if a dead battery causes everything you extreme mental and emotional stress then perhaps the connections need to be pulled back a bit. It will be okay if your plants die on farmville, I swear, no one will ever read about the great potato famine of cityville and the massacre that came when you didn't get on for 4 days.