Whose time is now?
Summary Description Youthful rebellion today is happening online, says Simon Vandore.
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Roullas Top10 Simon Vandore

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Article Topic Vandore
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Story Group 000813
Post Date 11/08/2000 08:20 AM Status Posted Entered by Simon Vandore on 09/08/2000 06:43 PM


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Introduction
"Rebellion Postponement: The tendency in one's youth to avoid traditionally youthful activities and artistic experience in order to obtain serious career experience. Sometimes results in the mourning for lost youth at about age thirty, followed by silly haircuts and expensive joke-inducing wardrobes."
Douglas Coupland, 'Generation X' (Abacus, 1991)

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When the media labels a generation, such as the baby boomers or the Xers, it also assigns a stereotype. Those born in the 'baby boom' following the Second World War are supposedly aging hipsters who were once into the Beatles and student politics. Generation X was allegedly about grunge and apathy.
In reality, each generation consists of subcultures and a single label does it little justice. Today, for example, there are punks, goths, skaters, surfers, clubbers, ravers, geeks, gangs, headbangers and venture capitalists (just kidding). And others. Try summing up those with a single expression!
They're all on the Internet, which has enabled each group to communicate as never before. Myriad sites and discussion groups exist where they can share information, find people with the same interests, and refine their identity.
I think the Internet is even making its own subcultures. It's not geeky to use the Web or play videogames any more; there are now adults who have been using these things daily since they entered high school, with a native understanding of the online world that I will never have. One of the consequences is that they are getting to know each other online and falling into social groups. Rebellion these days is not necessarily about dyeing your hair; it can be as much about who you hang out with online.
It's a new way of forming relationships -- getting to know people from all over the world via simple text on a screen. This doesn't replace real-life interaction, but it's a rich addition to it, like snail mail penpals once were.
Last week I received many emails from cable Internet users unhappy about the service they were receiving. One letter went much further than the others, claiming that the situation was preventing people from 'seeing' their friends -- an age group for whom access to the Net was like having milk in the fridge.
"I don't think that the decision makers in these large telecommunications companies have ever lived in, or are even aware of the world they have created," wrote the reader. "Online gaming still conjures up thoughts of Space Invaders and Pac-Man for many people. This trivialises what is actually occurring."
"Where else have you seen a group of teenage boys admire someone for personality and integrity, regardless of their physical exterior? This 'trivial' world of 'harmful violence' as often portrayed by the media and baby boomer generation, has managed to solve most of the problems that have plagued our society for eons."
Maybe this is taking it a bit far. But the reader was pointing out the existence of something that doesn't really have a name yet -- the huge online subculture that has grown around things like MP3 trading, online games and freedom of information. It is a group heavy on the testosterone, but the female percentage is growing fast. Celebrities are among its numbers and the group has its own icons -- underground musicians, long-haired games programmers and their virtual stars.
Elements of this subculture can be a little scary, messing with the occult, guns, hard-core porn and even far-right political beliefs; spending time online at the expense of education and relationships. Other parts, such as the haphazardly misspelled language which has evolved, can appear more than a little silly to the untrained eye and wide open to parody or ridicule. But that's rebellion for you.
Advertisers are yet to figure this group out like they did the clubbers and ravers. Meantime, they're growing up, starting dot coms, opening bank accounts and voting. Dismiss them at your peril.
Vandore is published every Friday on Newswire. You can contact Simon Vandore at svandore@acptech.net.


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Youthful rebellion today is happening online, says Simon Vandore.

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Vandore: Whose time is now?

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