Bloogies, today will be another not so political post about the great interweb! So, all those people who love only political progressive bloggers, can take a long walk off a long pier and then, i dunno, enjoy their day somewheres other than my blog? Anyway... Now to the blog.
My brother, who shall hence forth be named Skeeter, was surfing the net the other day. When, out of the great depths of Facebook itself, popped up a friendly friend invite from a not so expected friend. They were adults, who i shall hence forth call Henry and June.
Henry and June are friends of the family. They know your fellow pasta and they know his brother, Skeeter. But, then again does that make it okay for them to approach skeeter on Facebook? One way or another, both me and skeeter felt that some boundary was being pushed.
Of course, i am talking about one thing that is most unspoken about our modern teen society, yet it is one of our greatest powers. Our reliance and trust in the almighty internet.
We IM each other, we Facebook, we youtube, we even blog for scholarships. And the one defining thing that made us feel secure in it all is that the older generation didn't know how. And they didn't bother to find out. But that is changing, with newer eras the internet is becoming a more even aged demographic. And so that buffer is in the process of being destroyed.
As me and Skeeter both laughed and freaked over Henry and June's friend invite, I wondered why it would seem so socially awkward. I suppose it is that we go to the internet to relax or escape. And adults, no offense to any reading this, usually spell destruction for our world.
Of course this leads me to the question for you, my bloogies. Why should there be such an awkward gap? Is it simply that mixing adult friends with teenage friends is socially unheard of? Or is it something to do with a new social set of rules of the web? Would you put your BFF and the librarian on your top8?
I wouldn't. I hate MySpace.
From the the deep deep depths,
watching the lives and the deaths,
the circle continues onwards,
RASTAPASTA *U
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I don't think the internet has anything to do with it. It is just often akward for an adult and a minor to be friends in any context (I don't mean family friends, just friend friends, and of course, there are exceptions)
but why?
Because I don't think realistically they can be social equals.
You tend to befriend those you have more in common with and age is part of that. I've gotten along very well with those outside my age group and I like many people that are older and younger than me, but for someone much older than me to try to befriend me would make me very uncomfortable. To truly build a healthy friendship or relationship, I think there must be an equal status or at least the illusion of one.
Older people experience different things and are going through different things in their lives than I am. It makes it hard to connect as well with them.
Older people experience different things and are going through different things in their lives than I am. It makes it hard to connect as well with them.
There is so much that we can learn from people that are older, I don't understand why I am not friends with more! Having already gone through some of the hard times that we are currently experiencing, I often find older friends to be more understanding in some situations than family members for example.
I understand that in some contexts it may be awkward, but I consider some of my coworkers and my university chaplin to be my friends and I am willing to speak to them outside of work and such. I do not see a problem with it and do not feel awkward.
*shrug* my ex-boss and I were pretty close. She's on my myspace friends list and we still keep in touch.
I go out for coffee, just to talk and catch up with, my old religious leaders whenever I visit my old town. And they're both on my Facebook friends list.
I don't think it's a big deal to be friends with someone in an older generation, and if it is, you can always just not friend them.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-