Teenagers Are Changing the Face of News
Have teenagers? Wonder if they actually know what's going on in the world, even if they are never seen reading? Chances are they do. Because of a radical shift in the way teens of today take in content, it's actually probable that most teens know more than their adult counterparts.
Information today is becoming more and more instantaneous. We expect news to be delivered right to us, within minutes of it happening, if not seconds. Because of this radical shift from the days of receiving a daily newspaper, most teens are becoming more and more clued in to what is occurring in the world around them. While it may not seem as if they watch the news each evening or read the daily paper, most teens know what is happening, probably before most other demographics.
The rise in social media sites such as Facebook and Myspace has seen a tremendous shift away from traditional media. The growing use of these sites among younger generations has usually been met with criticism, but in the area of news and world awareness, these sites are actually pushing news right into the lives of teenagers. "Friending" media sites such as CNN allows users to see news, as it happens, write in a stream of information that includes status updates from friends. This is becoming the new form of media. No longer do teens need to read the evening paper, because by the time it reaches them, they already know everything there is to know. Twitter and other micro-blogging sites only increase this fact.
Although the internet has been criticized greatly for its negative effects on teenagers, it can actually be a helpful and informative way of obtaining information. News continues to occur at every second, a pace too rapid to be recorded by conventional media sources. Teenagers are relying on the technology they have grown up with to discover new and important topics, and they are becoming more worldly without even recognizing it.
