This week has been again on other networks, streets mostly, in Berlin on
Love Parade and later around Germany and now back here in A'dam again.
Many Finish netppl-friends are travelling around Europe as well so we've
been using more real hugging than IRC-actions for change :)
During the past couple of weeks I've come across a record lot of people
who hate computers. Has been fun to talk with them .. hard fun, though.
One reason for people to *not* to use the net is clearly that they just
don't like it. Often education, which is perhaps the best way to guarantee
access / net.literacy for everyone, is believed to solve that "problem" as
well but still there are people who know the net well but still prefer to
leave in untouched.
I'm sometimes like that too. The Geneva event is not organised for nothing
I guess..
Here the answer-thoughts - it's a bit long I'm afraid :/
On Thu, 2 Jul 1998 [email protected] wrote:
> 1) Are teens treated differently online than they are in real life?
By adults you mean? Or by other young people? Or just in general?
My first shot would be: no.
Could also be yes, though.
Depends how you look at it, on definitions:
* What's a teen?
I mean, do you define it by biological age or somekind of social(?)
maturity? It probably has to do with both.
In our language with the young people in Finland I would understand teen,
"teini", as a childish inexperienced naive attitude towards life that some
kids and (young) adults have. It can be perhaps cute in some cases but
definitely not an admirable attribute when it comes to things that matter.
"teinirakkaus", teenage love, for example sounds like vague experimental
first (pitiful :) attempts to .. love. Like not real love but teenage
love.
The word used to be different, though. A friend of mine who's a bit older
and knows this stuff is telling on IRC at the moment how being teenager
used to be something uniting, something to be proud of. Like in the 50's,
or I don't when, they had a teenage union in Finland .. guess that was the
Beatles / Rock'n'Roll times when the whole youth is said to have basically
be sharing the same youth culture.
Anyway, if someone on IRC or news/mailing discussions appears to have the
teen attitude I don't think anyone really respects them. That way the
answer would be: no, teens are treated just the way they always are.
It is true however that on the Internet, like in also many old media like
books and music, people of young age can work better as they are not
confronted with that much prejudices when age/gender/whatever does not
show. I guess this is what you where after?
Also the fact that kids often know the technology better than adults
(described for example in Tapscott's book) makes adults to listen them
perhaps in a different way and questiones authority.
> 2) How would you make the Internet accessible to teens who don't have
access?
Kindergartens, schools, libraries and universities traditionally provide
access quite equally. Also the fact that the I-access becomes cheaper all
the time, like the telephone did, and also much of the content is there
for "free", meaning financed by ads like TV, in a way makes it more equal.
I'm afraid I don't have any special ideas here. (work on the .lib-sector
and perhaps in dev. countries) 2b1 ...
> 3) Is our Internet use creating a new reality or a false sense of
reality?
I hope it's a better tool than the old ones, like books, TV, faxes,
telephones etc. to deal with the *actual* reality. This is a trendy
opinion now as movements like <technorealism.org> have been getting
stronger.
Internet brings people closer so that there is less mediating but more
direct personal contacts instead. On the net it's also really easy to
check several sources to confirm the information.
So my wish that our new reality is less false than the previous ones :)
That's perhaps our motivation, religion, to be in this business.
--cut--
That's what there was, I take a deeper look into yours now and hopefully
more tomorrow.
This is again an expensive cafe to do netting in and then again: the
people, magazines, music, drinks, food and just the general atmosphere
outside the screen are so exotic, fascinating and fun that it's
surprisingly hard to get stuck here. But wait till I make it back home to
Finland by winter and things might be different .. or who knows ;)
See you soon! (.. at least if hitchiking works around here ..)
~Toni