[jennys]

Recently there has been a growing trend among the worlds top scientists, philosophers and physiologists regarding the use of social media by today's youth and the lack thereof. It seems the growing consensus is that lack of an online presence on sites like Facebook and Myspace leads to the assumption that this represents a lack of social interaction and the ability thereof. These “think-tanks” have come to the conclusion that it is abnormal for today's youth to not post their entire life story or what they ate for breakfast on Internet sites that for the most part anyone can view. These opinions have been surfacing more due to the lack of the Batman shooter's online presence and they are trying to correlate this with mental instability.

When I grew up with these people I was looked down on and bullied due to my use of computers and video games and lack of participating in normal “outside” social activities and use of social networking (yes, social networking exists before the world wide web was accessible by the masses). I was an outcast due in part to my pursuit of knowledge in something that amazed me. Learning and creating while at the same time the judgmental clowns ran around in circles throwing balls at each other.

I wasn't glued to my tech either. How many times have you gone to dinner any your companion(s) are online with their mobile chains or how many times have you been in the theater watching glowing screens pop up or people talking on a wireless device? When I was younger I was not glued to anything as I have always enjoyed activities that do indeed bring me outdoors and allow me to interact with real people in person and not behind all kinds of shades of gray.

Now suddenly it's fine to spend countless hours doing exactly what I was bullied for and if you're not doing so then something is wrong with you. I also see it as a threat to our privacy as if these groups of people are going to push their "you should be online writing about your life" agenda then that gives anyone an advantage over you as we've seen recently with employers and government agencies using social media for varying purposes. I do not need anyone telling me I have to write about my life. I told them to screw off then and they can definitely screw off now.

Sometimes I just don't understand these people...