Figures of speech are italicized for clarity.

I had a discussion last year with someone in the market research business about the current generation of youth and what the industry is doing to target them. Apparently they're called generation "me" and the basic strategy is give as much choice to the consumer as possible. I would consider myself a member of gen Y (think gulf war 1, the advent of the personal home computer, Tahiti Treat, etc.). This next generation "me" is the natural result of:

A) The self-esteem movement that was just beginning when I was a child where not only are you special but you're very different. And because you're so different you should be able to choose what you want to watch/eat/wear/see/hear/do/may/say/think when/however you want.

B) Super sweet technology.

I'm not proposing that these are inherently bad things to shape an entire generation but what I do believe is that since we receive our information and entertainment through so many customizable channels, we are loosing consensus among ourselves as a group. So as our parents no longer gathered around the radio after supper to hear news from the front and read the same newspaper every day, we are moving from watching sitcoms and the same 2 news programs together in the living room to the computer upstairs to preen our myspace (or should I say facebook. I should definitely say facebook.) site and peruse the web looking for a new electroclash band to listen you that you can be sure nobody else has. And instead of everybody on Monday at school discussing how funny it was when Chris Farley was farting on SNL the previous Saturday night, there are just way to many things out there to be entertained by. So when Monday comes it's just not the same.

Again, not necessarily a bad thing. I will concede that it was pretty lame that for about 400 years the media people consumed was controlled by such a small group of people. And I'm also glad I can live in an age when I can get home at night and watch all the soccer highlights I care to see on the internet whether it's 10, or 10:05, or 2am. Ok, I rarely stay out past 9 on a weeknight. Or weekend for that matter. Yet I feel that we've lost something. I don't feel the connection with the man on the street that I like to think generations past did. Like when all it took was tip of the hat to let someone know you're the kind of man that would vote for Teddy Roosevelt. What does that mean? I have no idea but we'd all know what it meant if it was 1901.

There's no doubt that the media we consume greatly influences the way we interact with each other non-only on the micro level but in commerce, education, and self governance. And I think the end result is that we become less and less able to participate in the public discourse that we use to steer our collective futures because nobody is starting from the same set of assumptions.

So in short technology is bad. Stick around for the next post where I'll be podcasting random thoughts, streaming video live of me typing the web log entry, and laying down my ipod playlist I'm working for the marathon. Warning to my brother: It's only 3 hours 30 minutes.