Generation Z: Texting More than Talking

By Lina Diakite

We live in a generation with our heads down and our pointer fingertips out. We rely on Google or Siri to answer our questions.  Our sources consist of something we "read on Facebook” or “saw on Instagram,” rather than primary facts. We are Generation Z. But this is not all we know. We grew up when the iPhone did not exist and the internet was still evolving and we passed notes in class instead of texted. Generation Z understands a childhood of playing outside, climbing trees, and getting some dirt on our clothes. The question is, are we the last generation to know how to survive manually? With all the technology thinking for us and only becoming more advanced, what is to come for the next generation?

There are many pros and cons to the use of technology. Technology is fast paced, informative, and convenient.  Not only are we informed with the events that go on around us and throughout the world but we are informed quickly or as soon as it occurs. We are able to reach one another with a text, email or call. We can even see each other if we are not in the same room with skype or FaceTime. Our ideas are shared through social media along with our creativity. In a way, it has made us more advanced, but not more knowledgeable.

Technology takes away our human intellect, it makes us lazy and it distracts us. Not only are we always looking at our phones, texting or on social media, but we are ignoring the people we are with. We go to events to enjoy them through the screen of our phones rather than actually being there. Our minds become drowned with information we are not sure is true or not.

Generation Z is the most advanced and adept with all of the new technology because we grew up with it. We are aware of how easy it makes our lives, yet still complain about the “good old days.” If we are so confused about where our relationship stands with our iPods, iPhones, droids, tablets, etc., then what do we do to limit it, to go on a “break” with our technology every now and then? Or is this the way our future will be lead? It is up to Generation Z to identify the gap between technology and humanity.

Lina Diakite is a Senior at St. Thomas Aquinas College majoring in Marketing.