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407 Comments
- colonelbuckshot, on 01/31/2008, -3/+232I'd rather read the comments of the average 30-something than the average teen.
- CravenTwain, on 01/31/2008, -0/+170Especially ironic considering that these "under 30s" (teenagers in the article) are in the fourth or fifth wave of web users. It's not theirs to get territorial about. The web's earliest adopters are now in or approaching their 40s.
- Alcor3000, on 01/31/2008, -1/+163And who invented the bloody technology in the first place?
- cyberwiz01, on 01/31/2008, -5/+155How could this be a bad thing? I am 24 so I fall in the under 30 crowd. But I think it's a good thing that people of all ages are embracing technology. It provides additional perspective from different points of view on sites like digg. We should be welcoming them, not feeling uncomfortable around them.
- incandescent, on 01/31/2008, -2/+107Over 30s embracing technology? Believe it or not the internet has been around for a long time and computers for even longer. I've been using "technology" since the early 80's, when presumably the under 30s were toddlers if they had even been born. Perhaps us mid-thirties techies should complain about non-techy youngsters invading *our* space ;)
- allaboutdatiki, on 01/31/2008, -3/+102get the hell off my lawn, whippersnappers!
- rabidbob, on 01/31/2008, -1/+89I'm in my mid-30ies; I've had a net connection of one type or another for nearly a decade and a half. I could say that I'm not impressed with the under 30ies crowd encroaching on what I consider my technological space. That would be silly though; the internet is available for anyone and there are communities for all different types of people.
- Zorn, on 01/31/2008, -5/+78The mediocrity and narcissism of the under 30's on social networking sites is truly horrific to behold. The endless repetition of personality profiles, 'do you like me' applications, so and so who is 'hotting it up' or 'bringing sexy back' or some such ***** seems only to testify to a vacuous, self-indulgent and over-commercialized youth culture where every little sunflower and snowflake needs to be congratulated (one is never allowed to 'judge' or offer a critical, constructive point) for their 'unique self-expression' (read, pseudo-individualism) rather than engage any meaningful work on themselves and become articulate, insightful and complex beings who have something worthwhile to say.
I vote for their expulsion from the internet.
- Joshuarr, on 01/31/2008, -0/+58I don't think you should have been dugg down. I'm 30 and was just thinking that there seem to be way too many 16 year olds on here these days. I feel like I own the internet, having suffered through the days of AOL 1.5 and baud rates.
- fefu, on 01/31/2008, -0/+51You're finally an adult when you don't give a ***** if your mom wants to be your MySpace friend. If it bothers you, it's an indication that you have still not grown up.
- aliguana, on 01/31/2008, -2/+48read as: older non-tech people are starting to use social networks en-masse, and criticising hideously unreadable MySpace pages and Zombie invites. Younger people then feel embarassed about doing these things, but instead of admitting the oldies are right, they slag them off for being there in the first place. These social network sites aren't 13-21. If they were, I could see their point.
- Maluka, on 01/31/2008, -2/+45Egotistical little *****. I'm over 40 and have been on MySpace since it began. So have a lot of others around my age. Then came the kids who act like it's their own private world. I was on Friendster before that and bailed when the others did. Nothing could persuade me to join the elitist ranks of Facebook, though. I've also been online for 15 years, longer than many of the younger set have been alive.
- axiomflash, on 01/31/2008, -6/+45You clearly haven't had your boss and coworkers add you on facebook...
- ReligionOfPeace, on 01/31/2008, -2/+38Absolutely. I was chatting via teletype terminal when the only option for "lay" users was mainframes serving BASIC. I learned to type on an IBM keypunch machine in the board of ed's basement. Altairs, CP/M, TRS-80's, Apple II, VIC-20, Osbourne's, C-64, C-128, ...
We were here first kid, so treat yourself to a sippee cup of STFU and get the hell off my grass. - oldgal, on 01/31/2008, -0/+32Actually, some of us are approaching 70 and were there for the first wave of computers. We have seen a man walk on the moon and you have not - now that was cool.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -7/+37From what I can see in the article, the biggest complaint have younger people have is they don't think its "cool" to have older people on their friends' list and they don't want adults to see their drunken photos. I had almost forgotten how shallow younger people are. They don't want people to do the things they do because of their age, but as soon as you put any age restrictions on them, they get all whiny. How many teens won't drink simply because they are below the age limit? Also, to young people: If you put any unflattering pictures online, they are not private, whether your profile is or not. No one but you thinks you're cool because you have pics of yourself being drunk. As you get a little older and wiser you will see that people judge how "cool" you are by how much you can drink without acting like, well, a teenager.
- crash331, on 01/31/2008, -1/+25Funny, I hate that young people are invading the Internet.
Idiots got to grow up with it so they don't appreciate it. Anyone else remember the times of 9600 baud modems instead of 10mbps cable, geocities gif-fests instead of narcissist blogs, antennas that you had to aim and got about 3 channels instead of cable with its hundreds of channels, etc.
Oh, and I walked to school.....in the snow.....uphill....both ways. - ZenMojo, on 01/31/2008, -12/+36HAI! CAN I HAZ GERITOLZ? JKLOL!!!111!!!11!!!
No, seriously, anything to bridge the generational divide. - thecosmicpope, on 01/31/2008, -1/+24I've tutored the elderly (over 60s) on basic and advanced PC use at a few points in my life and I think its great. I admire them for diving into a new subject and learning it from scratch, especially at there old age. Computers can be scary things to someone who has never used one.
- aliguana, on 01/31/2008, -1/+23that should be "A grammar nazi or a lol-cat." :p
- alsowoldguy, on 01/31/2008, -0/+21Approaching? I passed 40 a few exits back! GEnie, then Usenet, then NCSA Mosaic.
Gotta run - "Murder She Wrote" is on! - theone3, on 01/31/2008, -0/+21I think what the article is really trying to get at is that for the first time, old and young are in the same social scene, sharing social circles. Your grandfather and friends can now see each other's personal information - have discussions, etc. You can't really keep secrets about family from friends, or friends from family. It's a stupid situation and it's not really about age, I can see this problem being just as bad for.. lets say a 40 year old with in-laws who are always interfering with social groups etc. This is actually a serious architectural flaw with most social networks but it has abso-*****-lutely nothing to do with age.
I also disagree with the assertion that age has anything to do with the type of comments you see on the internet. There are articulate twelve year olds an inarticulate seventy year olds - there may be trends but age trends never seem to be as bad as people make out when you look into it with care. - monsieurx, on 01/31/2008, -1/+21im 42 and half the players on the net dont know where computers came from! we are in coz we started it!
- mrBitch, on 01/31/2008, -3/+23Actually, you might take a minute to think about what age group uses ALL CAPS more often. Could it possibly be under 30's? Why yes, yes, it most probably could.
Another point you might want to think about is that all of this technology that you are using was conceived, designed, and created by 30+, 40+ and 50+ age groups.
If you think that under 30's created the internet, then you are not what I would call " an intellectual giant ". - Emused, on 01/31/2008, -1/+21I say , ***** them , who do they think ,created all this cool ***** in the first place, snot nose little punks, get off my porch and stop pissing in my garden.
- dacomputerfreak, on 01/31/2008, -1/+21You know you're finally an adult when you have better things to do than wasting time on myspace. :D
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -5/+24Here's a trade. Those of us over 30 (very much over 30 in my case) will stay off of your kiddie sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) and in return you stay off of what we started....the Internet.
- marc54, on 01/31/2008, -2/+21If you’re under 30, I’ve been on-line longer than you’ve been alive.
- inactive, on 01/31/2008, -3/+21And Thomas Edison was over 60 when he invented a working lightbulb, so by that logic, no lights for anyone under 60.
- ksgant, on 01/31/2008, -2/+20Well, I'm 46 and I doubt there will ever come a day when someone younger than me will know more about the online world than I do...considering I've been on the Net before there was even a "World Wide Web". Plus I'm constantly evolving to incorporate the latest technologies. I have to as it's part of my job.
I suppose it's the same thing I felt when people were "invading" the online world back in the early 90's. Now that kids see it as just a natural thing doesn't surprise me, but they shouldn't be surprised that everyone...regardless of age....is being touched by the Internet. You can hardly do day-to-day tasks without doing something online now. So if you get a text-message from your grandmother, don't freak out...the technology is open to everyone. You're not in some exclusive club you know.
If you really want to be exclusive, go back to old technology and just pass paper notes in class. But I guess writing things down with a pen or pencil is just SO 1980's. - Tazmaster, on 01/31/2008, -0/+18The younger generations sometimes think that older people should outgrow "cool" things like the internet and video games or else we are losers without lives. Sometimes it feels like I am in "The Children of the Corn", but I'll be damned if I am going to give up things that interest me just to appease some short sighted kids.
- LokitheComplex, on 01/31/2008, -0/+17"Teenager treats the internet like he owns it"
Is this news?
I expect the next headline will be "Area Teenager treats this house like a Hotel" - nicko68, on 01/31/2008, -1/+18Using technology developed when WE were teens.. the PC and Mac.
- MrSunshine, on 01/31/2008, -5/+22I hope these "oldies" somewhat bring morality to the internet. Less "LULZ" and instead more "STFU, NOOB".
- theone3, on 01/31/2008, -1/+17Proof that age has nothing to do with the grammar quality or ability to articulate concepts.
- zentehflash, on 01/31/2008, -3/+19Mom - "It says on your facebook status that you hate life, are you ok? And what does 'It's complicated' mean?"
Angst Teen - "When did you get facebook? Also you can't passably start to understand me."
I think the discomfort comes from where younger people who were just interacting with their pear are now filtering the content the express and upload so that they aren't looked down on by people who might view some of it as childish or immature. I think it stems from young adults not being able to be honest to their parents about who they are and what they do. But, nothing new I guess. - TheKorn2, on 01/31/2008, -1/+17Amen to that! Hell, I've had a broadband connection for nearly a decade! So I don't know who these teens think they're fooling -- do they really think facebook was invented by a thirteen year old?
I do have to wonder what idiots are invading myspace, though... That one would voluntarily go there is beyond comprehension. - aliguana, on 01/31/2008, -3/+18difference between young and older generations: older people talk about the software they're writing, the new car design they've made, their business, their home improvements, their trips to far off places. Younger people talk about... ME! ME! Here is a pic of ME, don't I look like a film-star? Oh, and a bit about ME! Am I hot or not? Of course I am! Poke ME! Look how popular I am, I have a million friends, bow down and worship ME! Oooo... here is another self-portrait posing pic of ME taken with the camera in one hand, at a dodgy angle, looking all moody*. ME!
* hint for self-portrait kids: it's called a timer. You set the timer, put the camera down, then get in position and bamb. I HATE half-armshots. They are silly and so is the person taking them. - inactive, on 01/31/2008, -2/+17I can't see any real use for Myspace or Facebook at all. They just seem too 13 year old girl to me. Do I really need a page about me, what I like, etc. for the whole world to see? Often I see young people complaining how the government is taking away their privacy, then turn around and post pics of themselves smoking a joint with panties on their head. I had a gilrfriend who loved her myspace page, spent hours a day on it, updating her blog and whatnot. A blog about her and me. We did nothing, but work, sleep, eat, etc. If we wnt to WAl-Mart, she posted it. If we went to KFC, she posted it. This used to annoy me so much that I eventually left her. I'm sorry, but I'm just not comfortable with her whole friends list knowing everytime I had to tak3e a *****. But what worries me more isn't the bitch who has to blog about how she got the wrong burger at McDonald's, but the loser who reads all this *****. I mean, c'mon, why would anyone care what your favorite band is or how smart you think your cat is?
- CognitiveD, on 01/31/2008, -0/+15I have had comments on my age (I'm 30) on a community-like web site and that I'm too old to be there.
Thing is that I have been there since I was in my early twenties, guess that the people that are in their early twenties now will still use the Internet when they are older. - dacomputerfreak, on 01/31/2008, -1/+16Grow up and stop whining.
- iLEZ, on 01/31/2008, -0/+15I agree. My GFs granddad is 85 and he recently got himself a computer and taught himself to program it and go online and import old cassette tapes to mp3 and much more. Admirable indeed.
- wattersm, on 01/31/2008, -0/+14At least you can understand the grammar nazis.
- EarlOfLade, on 01/31/2008, -0/+14And when he was like 5, I wrote the compilers and libraries he used (I, among many others of course), he was still suckling on his mommas ***** when I wrote GUI based programs in DR GEM!
- Klydethegreater, on 01/31/2008, -1/+14Get off my lawn ya little bastards
- Pixelante, on 01/31/2008, -1/+14"Interacting with their pear"? Man, you should eat your fruits, not "interact" with it.
- shavenlunatic, on 01/31/2008, -1/+14errr.. i turn 30 this year and I was 15 when I started using the internet (i remember when all this was just fields).. so when I hit 30 am I all of a sudden an internet invader? Or is it a case of "I was here first and you kids don't respect the blah blah blah"
- Lone1, on 01/31/2008, -0/+12one day, you will realize that 40 is not old. Don't belive me? Lets revisit in 25 years.
- jivz, on 01/31/2008, -1/+12My first encounter with the internet was in 1989, when browsers weren't even invented. As a 38-year old I'm claiming our space, because it was ours to begin with.
- Maluka, on 01/31/2008, -2/+13haha you can't spell. It's you're, loser. :D
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