The “Onlife” generation, social networks and digital inequality – part 1
What is youth like nowadays?
Part 1.
Our aim is to seek answers to that question about contemporary youth through the lens of the social sciences. It is completely justified to talk about answers in plural not only because there are theoretical and methodological differences among the various disciplines but also because the researchers’ approaches point to the possibility of different meanings arising from age differences, locality, and social and cultural differences, in addition to comprehensive, major trends.
The July 2024 issue of Hungarian Science Magazine pays special attention to current issues in youth research. A total of five studies focusing on the age group between 15 and 29 are available, structured by two main questions. One thematic group1 provides an overview of the applicability of generational approaches, and the other2 provides an overview of the social role of young people. Amongst the authors both younger and older generations of researchers can be found who report on the latest results of youth research, which has a strong tradition in Hungary. We picked from some of these findings to discuss in this article.
When examining the character of generations, the most crucial factors are common experiences and similar socialisation. Therefore, it can be stated that it is the specific social and emotional environment that is responsible for the significant differences between generations. The emergence of characterful generations requires a package of shared experiences, which can include peaceful periods characterised by slower changes, as well as sudden changes, social and natural cataclysms, or a series of them (permacrisis). Among the generation-shaping effects of our time, we tend to mention the environmental crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, and the war. The results of empirical studies in Hungary show that younger generations are more conformist than rebellious; however, in terms of international processes, there are also generational activist (e.g., #MeToo, “OK Boomer,” Fridays for Future).
The 2016 and 2020 large-scale domestic youth surveys reached mixed conclusions in many respects. Shifts can also be seen within the three main characteristics of the young age group previously defined as the silent generation: conformity, uncertainty, and passivity. Based on results from 2020, the proportion of those who accept the opinions and values of their parents or older generations was lower. There are many reasons behind this, including the fact that young people react to the environmental crisis much more sensitively and actively, or that the newer generations have become much more active users and shapers of digital culture, breaking away from the socialisation patterns of previous generations. In other areas, however, there is an increase in the degree of passivity, such as in physical exercise and risk-taking. Uncertainty also shows an upward trend, and in this discourse, the future, which is considered bleak, can be interpreted in a generational framework rather than at an individual level. It is strongly related to the climate crisis, the feeling of being endangered due to worldwide epidemics, and wars.
Youth research also points out that labels such as passivity, insecurity, or conformity, characteristic of the silent generation, describe young people in the physical (offline) world. At the same time, it should be recognized that the online world cannot be omitted from a more complete characterization. In the last two decades, young people have played a much more decisive role in the digital space, often with a countercultural character, making the Internet a crucial medium in their socialisation. This shift has occurred to a significant extent in areas that were hidden from elders or at least not well known or controlled. All of this includes the influence of online communities, real online experiences, and, last but not least, the informational function of social media, which has largely replaced the roles of traditional press, TV, and radio for young people, not to mention books.
Of course, all this does not mean that the behaviour of young people can be characterised as passive in one context and active in another. The sharp separation of online and offline spaces has also been removed from the ongoing discourse, as they are organically intertwined. The new experience is the motivating power of communities born in virtual space, which, crossing the limits of their original existence, can also make their impact felt in the physical realm. Just think about the movements initiated by influencers or the forms of activism related to topics that strongly connect young people in the physical world (such as demonstrations related to the climate crisis). The Fridays for Future movement was formed in virtual space, but it was able to mobilise young people in several countries simultaneously to express their concern about global environmental pollution by taking part in demonstrations.
On the other side of the scale, there is the experience of social relations temporarily relegated to the online space due to the coronavirus epidemic, which has made offline connections more valuable. This period brought about a significant change in the value of online experiences, highlighting the lack of physical presence and access to the physical world. The attitudes formed by these events also show that both physical and virtual spaces must play a role in shaping the young generation.
In the following part of the article, we will examine significant differences even within the young generation comprehensively characterised in this paper with particular regard to digital inequalities and political activity.
Ildikó Tamás
HUN-REN BTK NTI Senior researcher,
author of fashion antropology podcast.
Notes:
- https://mersz.hu/dokumentum/matud202407__5/#matud202407_f105465
https://mersz.hu/dokumentum/matud202407__6/#matud202407_f105466 ↩︎ - https://mersz.hu/dokumentum/matud202407__7
https://mersz.hu/dokumentum/matud202407__8
https://mersz.hu/dokumentum/matud202407__9 ↩︎
This content was published as part of PERSPECTIVES – the new label for independent, constructive and multi-perspective journalism. PERSPECTIVES is co-financed by the EU and implemented by a transnational editorial network from Central-Eastern Europe under the leadership of Goethe-Institut. Find out more about PERSPECTIVES: goethe.de/perspectives_eu.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible.
A projektben, nemzetközi partnereink által készített tartalmakat itt találjátok.
About Post Author
