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 By
Chris Skoyles
“No
you won’t fool the Children of the Revolution,” sang Marc Bolan back in
the 70s. Young people today are at the forefront of a technological
revolution, and there is certainly no fooling us when it comes to
concepts such as MP3s, blogs and predictive text as we collectively
change the way humans interact with the modern world.
It can be easy to forget that the concept of CDs is only 22 years old,
yet already they have made way for the latest in musical evolution, the
MP3.
MP3s have brought many problems over the past few years, upsetting
record labels, Christina Aguilera and that little Danish bloke from
Metallica over copyright issues, but the fact is that they are most
definitely the way forward.
16-year-old Debbie Parrington, from Lowton, agrees:
“Sometimes you’ll get an album and not actually like all the tracks on
it. With Mp3s though, you can mix them up and put all your favourite
tunes on one CD,” she says
“You can throw loads of songs on there or on an MP3 player. I’m getting
an Ipod Nano for Christmas, can’t wait!”
Indeed, MP3 players are the must-have items of the moment, with folk
showing off their Ipods at any opportunity, yet they are much more than
just a fashion accessory. How much easier is it to save hundreds of your
favourite songs onto one little gadget that won’t skip every time the
bus goes over a bump than to store 12 tracks on one bulky CD player that
skips frequently?
And you can’t really talk about gadgets without talking about mobile
phones.
Over the past 8 years, mobiles have transformed themselves from those
early brick-like devices that required a backpack to carry them in, to
all-singing all-dancing devices that pack cameras, video recorders and
such like into the size of a credit card. They have become a
quintessential part of people’s lives, including Debbie’s.
“Having a camera on your phone means you can go for a night out with
your mates and still have pictures without having to carry around a big,
probably expensive camera!” she says.
“I can’t imagine what I’d do without my mobile. It’s not like I’m
emotionally attached to it or anything, but they make life so much
easier.”
The ways in which people communicate has changed drastically over the
last few years, thanks in no small part to the Internet. According to a
recent survey by The Guardian, young people between the ages of 14-21
spend an average of eight hours a week on the Internet, communicating
with friends for around half of that time.
 There
was a time when communication on the Internet was reserved for those of
a more technical persuasion. However, seeing the potential that on-line
communication could have, the folks at MSN came up with… well, MSN.
MSN Messenger and similar programmes are revolutionising the way young
people keep in touch with their mates and people from around the world,
bringing with them a whole language composed of acronyms. New words like
‘BRB’ (Be Right Back) ‘ROFL’ (Rolling On the floor laughing) and ‘OMG!’
(Oh my god!) are increasingly appearing in young people’s every day
language. There is every chance that you are one of the programme’s 155
million users, and probably know that anyway, lol. One person who does
indeed have MSN, and is far less than chuffed about it, is our esteemed
editor, Mr. Kennedy Stewart.
“Nothing in life irks me more than MSN Messenger,” he says sternly. “I
go on the internet to get things done; like banking, emailing photos to
friends, printing off guitar chords etc. The last thing I want is a
little box popping up with a message from someone I only sort of know
asking me what I’m up to. What do you think I’m up to? I’m on the
internet you dork! I tried MSN for about two days, but now I’ve
consigned it to the recycle bin.”
Apparently, ten years can make a lot of difference. At 26, the boss is
far from old (Cheers Chris! – Ed), yet if he were the same age as
16-year-old Debbie, would their two opinions differ so much? Debbie does
not think so.
“Older people have a harder time ‘getting’ stuff like MSN and predictive
text, and I’m not talking about people you would normally consider
‘old’,” It’s people in their late twenties and that. They’ve grown up
with a more ‘traditional’ way of communicating like phone and letters,
whereas people our age have sort of grown up with things like MSN and
that.
“MSN’s a lot like texting, only it’s free, which when you’re a poor
college student really makes a difference. I don’t really use that as
much any more since I started using Myspace.”
Ah, Myspace, the Internet networking site brings over 22 million
internet users together to chat, exchange messages (known as “Comments”)
and check out a host of talented yet unsigned bands.
Rock ‘n’ roll aside, Myspace’s biggest feature is the cultural
phenomenon known as the ‘Blog’.
According to The Guardian, a third of 14-21 year-olds living in the UK
have their own blog (short for ‘Web log’) or website.
People create blogs for all sorts of reasons. Some to express opinions
or thoughts on serious issues such as news and world events, some posts
news and reviews on the entertainment world, whilst Debbie treats her
blog as ‘a place to vent.’
“I think that if given the right platform, everybody likes to talk about
themselves, and I’m no exception. I like to read my friends blogs
because I care about them and it’s nice to know what they’re doing with
their lives and how everyone’s feeling.”
In fact, such is the extent of Myspace that the entire interview with
Debbie is carried out on the website!
This, argues Kennedy, is not a good thing.
“I think talking on the internet for any length of time is so
impersonal,” he says.
“What can you learn about a person’s smile on the internet? I have
friends who boast about having met this girl or that girl on the web,
but I’m sure they’d meet just as many in real life if they put
themselves in social situations more frequently.
Kennedy even reckons technology is having a “detrimental impact on the
English language.”
“In my professional capacity, I read a lot of articles written by young
people and I can see how text language is having a negative impact on
their writing. Many people might not see this as such a big issue, but
if a young person is using the number 2 a lot instead of the words, then
they come to write an article and can’t tell the difference between
‘to’, ‘too’ or ‘two’. People are reducing their vocabulary which
ultimately reduces their ability to express themselves.”
For once we have an agreement between Kennedy and Debbie, who says:
“Some of my mates take the mick because I refuse to use text language
and always use proper grammar and write out full words in messages. I
don’t know if it’s just because I’m an English student or what, but I
don’t like butchering the English Language!”
Obviously, not everybody agrees with our wordy interviewees, such as the
13-year-old girl who hit the headlines back in 2003 for handing in a
whole school essay written entirely in text-language.
And this is where the problem comes folks.
Here we are, at the centre of a technological revolution that has given
us the power to make significant changes and improvements to modern
life.
Yet the revolution is now moving into uncharted territories, and it
could come at a heavy price. The further forward we venture with our
quest for new technology, the further away we push ourselves from
society and the basic need for human interaction.
Maybe they won’t fool the Children of the Revolution, but if we’re not
careful, we may end up fooling ourselves.
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