Current Issues in Journalism

I disagree. It seems to me that youth culture as a whole is a lot more apathetic than they used to be. During the Vietnam War (a similar situation) it seemed like young adults really rallied and stood for what they believed in. Their are individuals now who care just as much, if not more, about the war in Iraq but as a whole I don't think it is to the same effect. The internet is a tool that is helping this generation question the world (as well as being the tool to help find the answers TO those questions) but it certainly didn't open new doors that weren't already opened. I do agree, however, that it is much easier after the dawning of the internet to get your views and ideas seen and heard.

Yes, to some extent it is true. The youth are really speaking out. They want their voices to be heard, and thus they are writting on blogs and voiceing their opinions on podcasts. Now, with that said...everything they are talking about is not great. Some youth are rambling on about things of no importance. And some are highly educated well thought out opinions. My one thing is this...if you write something make sure you know what your talking about.

that last one was me, susan schwarz... my bad

This is totally true. Youth today have more of a voice in society than youth of any previous time. This is made possible by the ease and speed at which we can communicate over the interntet. We are in the middle of a communications renaissance. The interntet has suddenly provided the biggest communications innovation the world has ever seen and the methods/techniques will only become more refined with time.

I believe our generation has the greatest opportunity to voice individual opinions as well as youth as a whole. Due to the internet and technology advancements those with access can communicate with a much larger audience than those of the past. Getting people to listen and act on opinions and ideas can be even harder now because of the mass amounts of information on the internet.

I agree with the comment. The internet helps us get our ideas out there. They may not always be read, (because, seriously, how many middle-schoolers have xangas?), but they are out there and a lot of them are being discussed and valued.

While I believe that Internet has opened up more and more ways provide information to the world, I totally agree with Matt's point about getting people to listen and act on opinions/ideas is getting harder because of the mass amounts of information that is on the Internet now. We talk about blogs becoming a trend and a new way to get news and information out there, but what happens when everybody and their mother has a blog and no one feels like listening because there are so many out there?

I agree as well with those above. Our youth is influenced a great deal by the media and traditional media today is the information we are accessing on the Internet. Think about how many kids are getting on Facebook and Myspace daily, not only can they get on these cites for their own entertainment, many teens are using these Web cites to advertise bands and try to speak out to other youth. The Internet has become a large part of our culture and I think it will only continue to grow as a way for teens to “speak out”, if that is what you want to call it.

I like the idea of the internet helping the youth today voice their opions and participate in discussions of what is important to them. I also wonder- are they really "voicing" anything though? They are sitting somewhere on a computer typing. No one can say they are acutally talking about these issues. I believe in actually meeting with people face to face to take part in discussions. I think that the internet is a good place to start but it's sad to think they have all these great ideas but are too scared or lazy to get out in the world to actually do something about it.