As a student of communications, I was, of course, inundated with Marshall McLuhan for all of my scholastic years. I was recently talking to a friend of mine who teaches a course in media, and he reminded me of a quote from McLuhan that really speaks to the internet, and social media’s place within it. I can’t find the exact quote, because I can’t remember where exactly it is from, but I’ll try to find the exact citation and quote. To paraphrase, he said this:
A new technology will not reach its full potential until it is fully in the hands of the next generation.
As much as I’d like to think of myself as the next generation, I’m probably on the other side of that. I’ve had a computer since I was 4, a PC since I was 7. I made my first webpage when I was 16, for a comedy band I had in highschool. However, I can still remember a time where the Internet was not part of my everyday life.
Once the 15 and 16 year olds of today, the ones who have no concept of card catalogues or losing touch with friends when they move, are the academics and PR pros of tomorrow, the internet will be in the hands of the next generation. We haven’t seen a fraction of how the internet will change our society at this point. As young and hip as we are (or would like to think we are) we’re still old dogs learning new tricks.
