Graham DeWitt, Special to The Denisonian–
The period between the 1960s and 1990s is idolized by the modern world. It was before algorithms, data tracking and Instagram. Back when stories were told, not shown with videos. And when our parents were young and in school. Now, they tell us their stories of their youth, stories that make ours seem irrelevant.
Everyone knows this epidemic well: seas of phone screens at concerts, superficial influencers and “doom scrolling.” It is no wonder our generation rejects the modern age. Vintage clothing trends are persistent and biopics set in previous times keep rolling in. People go on social media cleanses and make a point to delete TikTok and Instagram.
Our generation is lost. This idea comes from the 1920s author, Ernest Hemingway. I began to read Hemingway as a rejection of our generation. I did not want to read stories that had iPhones in them. His generation was labelled ‘the Lost Generation.’ However, in his memoir A Moveable Feast, he detested this label and instead believed “all generations [are] lost by something and always had been and always would be.” His generation was lost because young people came of age during the trauma-inducing World War I. They were lost and confused with the world around them. I understand war is a horrific occurrence, so I would not compare it to the social media epidemic, but this idea of a “lost generation” is relevant to make sense of ours.
We were born when social media had begun spreading, so we can only observe what it was like before. It completely changed social interaction, and there was no older generation to guide us into the realm of social media. I have a strange relationship with it. It is unusual to me that first impressions are Instagram profiles. It is confusing and stressful to consider the social complexities of reaching out to someone you would like to talk to. I feel lost in this sense.
The youth of today has struggled with social media. It is a responsibility to have access to it, and it often feels that not using it is to have no voice. Before us, the responsibility of social media did not exist. I would have preferred to live in a time where I didn’t know who I was going to see at a concert, where I only had what was around me. This is why we praise the ‘70s and all those other years.
I have found social media to be stressful and fake, so I have often rejected it. But if I were to delete all social media, I would be sacrificing staying connected with the people in my life.
We should not reject the world we live in. Some advice for changing this feeling of resentment for social media is to understand your values. Your values can provide a foundation for you to lead your life and to have confident judgement. Instead of getting bewildered by the complexities of social media, use it as a tool, because it is valuable. If you like someone and would like to talk to them, do not overthink it, reach out.
I will also add that while it seems every genre of music has been discovered, and every story has been written, no previous generation has lived in this age. We are as creative as we have always been. Sure, it is a bummer that we did not live in the time of Mick Jagger and Jack Nicholson’s peaks, but the time is now, not then.
We should try to find ourselves again.
Graham DeWitt ‘27 is a global commerce major from Cincinnati.