TakingITGlobal - Panorama - Interview with...

Published on: Feb 12, 2001

Topic:

Type: Opinions

https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=21

A few months ago I did some brainstorming for a project that I was doing for the ABC (The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, our National Broadcaster). I came up with these hallmarks of modern Australian youth culture:

CONSUMERISM

With increasingingly potent buying power, young Austrailans are now a viable commercial target. The balancing act between keeping up to date with emerging fashions and maintaining a socially unblemished conscience is becoming harder and harder. I believe that young people, if they knew about some of the human rights violations that these companies commit, would seriously consider boycotting them in favour of more socially responsible companies. We have to be able to say 'sure, you may think you're defining the trends, but if we don't like your company's business practice, we'll drop you in a second'. Consumer sovereignty, you know. :) (Incidentally, I'll be launching an ethical consumerism campaign at the 3rd World Summit on Media for Children in March later this year.)

INTERNET USAGE

The massive rise in technology has undoubtedly had a great impact on the way our generation works and plays. Increased communication over large distances and even long times, makes the internet a breeding ground for virtual communities centered around common interests. But despite that, very seldom do we see young people innovating technology. I mean, REALLY innovating technology. We can use it well, but we can't make it or see it in a different light that might be able to be interpreted as 'innovative use'. Well, what would life be without school? Probably a whole lot better until we realised that we actually need skills for later life (darn, I really want one of those mind / machine interfaces off The Matrix so we can just insert a disk and learn new skills by copying files from one drive to another....ahhhhh). School is a major force in shaping our personalities - it's our main sorce of knowledge and social life.

ALTRUISTIC GROUP MOVEMENT

Ok, this section might take a bit more explaining. I've noticed that young people are in general very willing to contribute a few hours of their time each week into something that contributes to the wellbeing of the society as a whole. Selling chocolates for hospitals or visiting the hospitals and doing voluntary work (albeit during school) is incredibly popular at our school, which, despite all of its marketing spew, is actually one without much student cohesiveness and participation. The rise of religions like Wicca and neo-paganism is indicative of a much more ecologically-aware young generation. Sure, we may sometimes be superficial trend-sheep, but I believe that young people, given the opportunity to fit into a group setting and really feel like they're doing something substantial to help their community, will. It's really a matter of showing them that working in their communities will result in this feeling.

POLITICS

Or rather, the absence of interest in politics. Because despite a generally well educated and socially active population, I don't think we're very interested in politics at all. There's a pervading sense of apathy and even disillusionment for the traditional political system, which is often seen as tokenistic, detached, and beaureucratic. And yet it's a wonder why more isn't being done to patch it up, if it really is so full of holes. rather than just passive participants in social, political, economic movements? Do you think that the media is the appropriate tool for such purposes?

I don't think the 'traditional' broadcast media offer channels for more
active youth participation. They're not collaborative media: they're very
much one way. And it's very hard for young people to get on the broadcasting end of it.

I don't want to do a rhetorical retread of everything that's been said about the internet, but it does seem to me that that this new medium offers a lot of collaborative, unifying possibilities for young people today, but that it's just not being taken advantage of. In my country we've had one of the world's fastest takeup rates of the internet among young people, and yet most of this usage doesn't spill over into anything more socially aware.

Sure, gossip and shopping and porn all have their place on the internet,
just as they do in real life, but it seems that more socially active / aware
uses just aren't coming to the surface (sure, there is comprehensive usage of the internet among the NGO sector, but this doesn't percollate down to the everyday young person). I don't think so; I think young people believe they have a lot better things to do - they have school and friends and a social life, and lobbying and protesting just seems to foreign, so distant. Partly I think this is because today, protesters exercising their democratic rights often forget that those who they're appealing to may not share the same vitriol that they themselves have developed through working with an issue for such a long time - and the mainstream media doesn't have to do much to make these protestors come across like extremist greenies. I think we have to show young people just how easy it is to Make A Difference, how satisfying it is to belong to a movement that is doing something active, and how normal and vital it is to be participating in democracy.

The internet is in many ways suited for this to happen. It's a collaborative, democratic medium which facilitates high level (at least) communication. Where internet usage is ubiquitous, like in Australia, it really comes into its own. It works because it has the power to bring people together.

We realise the principle of 'united we stand, divided we fall': that's why
we have unions that can act collectively. This principle can translate onto the internet: by assembling virutally on the internet, young people finally have a cheap and accessible way of acting collectively. By working together through the internet, we can find a new strength that they didn't have individually, creating political and economic clout where previously there was little. This enabling of collective action by young people is where we can break new ground. I think the most important thing for young people to do is to become
involved. Become involved in their communities, their democratic system, and if it isn't perfect, to become involved in making it perfect. Participative democracy involves an educated population making educated decisions that will effect themselves. Standing back and poking holes in The System isn't sharp-edged social criticism, it's a one-sided and counterproductive measure. And even though it might give you a temporary feeling of superiority, it doesn't result in much. It is NOT what participative democracy is about.

Offering solutions, developing solutions, and becoming involved in
implementing those solutions is what we should be doing.

Personally, I'd love to see a culture of participative democracy establish
itself among young Austrailans - all young Australians, whether they're
planning to work for an NGO, in the private sector or in the public service. The best solutions come about through the most vibrant and robust democratic processes.

« return.



by Jenny Waller
Published on: Feb 12, 2001
Topic:
Type: Opinions
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=21


A few months ago I did some brainstorming for a project that I was doing for the ABC (The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, our National Broadcaster). I came up with these hallmarks of modern Australian youth culture: CONSUMERISM With increasingingly potent buying power, young Austrailans are now a viable commercial target. The balancing act between keeping up to date with emerging fashions and maintaining a socially unblemished conscience is becoming harder and harder. I believe that young people, if they knew about some of the human rights violations that these companies commit, would seriously consider boycotting them in favour of more socially responsible companies. We have to be able to say 'sure, you may think you're defining the trends, but if we don't like your company's business practice, we'll drop you in a second'. Consumer sovereignty, you know. :) (Incidentally, I'll be launching an ethical consumerism campaign at the 3rd World Summit on Media for Children in March later this year.) INTERNET USAGE The massive rise in technology has undoubtedly had a great impact on the way our generation works and plays. Increased communication over large distances and even long times, makes the internet a breeding ground for virtual communities centered around common interests. But despite that, very seldom do we see young people innovating technology. I mean, REALLY innovating technology. We can use it well, but we can't make it or see it in a different light that might be able to be interpreted as 'innovative use'. Well, what would life be without school? Probably a whole lot better until we realised that we actually need skills for later life (darn, I really want one of those mind / machine interfaces off The Matrix so we can just insert a disk and learn new skills by copying files from one drive to another....ahhhhh). School is a major force in shaping our personalities - it's our main sorce of knowledge and social life. ALTRUISTIC GROUP MOVEMENT Ok, this section might take a bit more explaining. I've noticed that young people are in general very willing to contribute a few hours of their time each week into something that contributes to the wellbeing of the society as a whole. Selling chocolates for hospitals or visiting the hospitals and doing voluntary work (albeit during school) is incredibly popular at our school, which, despite all of its marketing spew, is actually one without much student cohesiveness and participation. The rise of religions like Wicca and neo-paganism is indicative of a much more ecologically-aware young generation. Sure, we may sometimes be superficial trend-sheep, but I believe that young people, given the opportunity to fit into a group setting and really feel like they're doing something substantial to help their community, will. It's really a matter of showing them that working in their communities will result in this feeling. POLITICS Or rather, the absence of interest in politics. Because despite a generally well educated and socially active population, I don't think we're very interested in politics at all. There's a pervading sense of apathy and even disillusionment for the traditional political system, which is often seen as tokenistic, detached, and beaureucratic. And yet it's a wonder why more isn't being done to patch it up, if it really is so full of holes. rather than just passive participants in social, political, economic movements? Do you think that the media is the appropriate tool for such purposes? I don't think the 'traditional' broadcast media offer channels for more active youth participation. They're not collaborative media: they're very much one way. And it's very hard for young people to get on the broadcasting end of it. I don't want to do a rhetorical retread of everything that's been said about the internet, but it does seem to me that that this new medium offers a lot of collaborative, unifying possibilities for young people today, but that it's just not being taken advantage of. In my country we've had one of the world's fastest takeup rates of the internet among young people, and yet most of this usage doesn't spill over into anything more socially aware. Sure, gossip and shopping and porn all have their place on the internet, just as they do in real life, but it seems that more socially active / aware uses just aren't coming to the surface (sure, there is comprehensive usage of the internet among the NGO sector, but this doesn't percollate down to the everyday young person). I don't think so; I think young people believe they have a lot better things to do - they have school and friends and a social life, and lobbying and protesting just seems to foreign, so distant. Partly I think this is because today, protesters exercising their democratic rights often forget that those who they're appealing to may not share the same vitriol that they themselves have developed through working with an issue for such a long time - and the mainstream media doesn't have to do much to make these protestors come across like extremist greenies. I think we have to show young people just how easy it is to Make A Difference, how satisfying it is to belong to a movement that is doing something active, and how normal and vital it is to be participating in democracy. The internet is in many ways suited for this to happen. It's a collaborative, democratic medium which facilitates high level (at least) communication. Where internet usage is ubiquitous, like in Australia, it really comes into its own. It works because it has the power to bring people together. We realise the principle of 'united we stand, divided we fall': that's why we have unions that can act collectively. This principle can translate onto the internet: by assembling virutally on the internet, young people finally have a cheap and accessible way of acting collectively. By working together through the internet, we can find a new strength that they didn't have individually, creating political and economic clout where previously there was little. This enabling of collective action by young people is where we can break new ground. I think the most important thing for young people to do is to become involved. Become involved in their communities, their democratic system, and if it isn't perfect, to become involved in making it perfect. Participative democracy involves an educated population making educated decisions that will effect themselves. Standing back and poking holes in The System isn't sharp-edged social criticism, it's a one-sided and counterproductive measure. And even though it might give you a temporary feeling of superiority, it doesn't result in much. It is NOT what participative democracy is about. Offering solutions, developing solutions, and becoming involved in implementing those solutions is what we should be doing. Personally, I'd love to see a culture of participative democracy establish itself among young Austrailans - all young Australians, whether they're planning to work for an NGO, in the private sector or in the public service. The best solutions come about through the most vibrant and robust democratic processes. « return.