Social Media: A Compare and Contrast from a Teenager and Mother

633 Words2 Pages

Due to the evolution of social media and technology, friendship has changed. The way people interact, hang out, and make plans has shifted from my mother to mine. Now 48 years of age, Sauertig has always lived in Montville, New Jersey, attending its public high school and graduating in 1984. Since technology, like the invention of a cell phone or the Internet, has changed dramatically since her teenage years, Sauertig was a good candidate to interview and compare to my teenage lifestyle. Technology and social media are always developing, allowing for connections to be made easier, changing friendships completely.

A major shift, due to social media and technology, is interactions among friends. Social media and technology have allowed people to constantly be able to interact. Previously, friends could only interact in person or through house phones (a last case resort for Sauertig). Sauertig was forced to make plans for the upcoming weekend in school or at sporting events after school (she played field hockey and lacrosse). Whereas before Sauertig was only friendly with the group of people she was most often around, I am able to keep a larger friend circle with the accessibility of social media. Today, I am able to make last second plans through texting or calling on a cellular phone or chatting a friend online. Calling a house phone for me is unheard of, not even as a last resort anymore. This shift allows for easy contact to anyone anywhere.

Although technology has had an immense effect on friendships, it has not had as much an effect on hanging out. Sauertig would hang out at one of her friend’s house and mostly just talk or play with makeup. They would also hang out with other guys or go to parties. Although teenagers in hig...

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...e to share memories and plan for the future. People can plan events or discover similar interests. Social media also forces people to become better at multi-tasking, a shift that my generation is better at than the ones previously. My generation, having grown up with social media, is more open to it and ready to embrace it.

Social media has revolutionized friendships. It has changed the way people communicate and live. It has developed a desire in the world to constantly want to process new information and communicate. With newer technology, creating plans to hang out has become extremely easy. However, even with these developments, hanging out has not changed very much. As generations become further from this new era, they are more reluctant to oppose social media, unlike the younger generations that are now growing up with it and do not even know the old ways.

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