I think you're right about it being a double-edged sword. I've got a few observations:
- Most of the young people I interact with seem to be both keenly aware of how to present themselves online but also understand that they cannot control what other people post about them, including candid images. This makes them more cautious around people they don't know well.
- They also seem to have their go-to poses ready. The second a camera comes out, they have suitable expressions on and patiently wait until the click has passed before going back to their more natural defaults. (I think we adults have these two, the difference being that today's youth are much more intuitive about theirs. Or maybe they all practice in the mirror and I just haven't seen it.)
- They are infinitely more creative with their cameras and streaming and sharing technologies than we are. My students find ways to use the technology that never occurred to us. These uses can be both good and bad (especially in finding novel ways to cheat.)
- But the biggest factor, I think, is that they not only see themselves, they see their friends and family and classmates at all stages of their existences. It's not only seeing themselves ten years ago, they see when Dad still had all his hair and Mom was a bit thinner and so on.
All of this culminates in them being far less affected by cameras than we think they are. For most of the past few generations, cameras were a disruptive technology. Over the past 100+ years, each generation had an iteration that brought cameras ever deeper into our lives, starting Kodak and ending with the first generations of digital cameras. But if you're a twenty-year old in 2022, the iPhone has been around since you were five years old. The best analogy I can think of is that they are affected by the ubiquity of cameras about the same way we're affected by the ubiquity of cars - there are good points and bad points, sure, but mainly they just...are.
I think you're right about it being a double-edged sword. I've got a few observations:
- Most of the young people I interact with seem to be both keenly aware of how to present themselves online but also understand that they cannot control what other people post about them, including candid images. This makes them more cautious around people they don't know well.
- They also seem to have their go-to poses ready. The second a camera comes out, they have suitable expressions on and patiently wait until the click has passed before going back to their more natural defaults. (I think we adults have these two, the difference being that today's youth are much more intuitive about theirs. Or maybe they all practice in the mirror and I just haven't seen it.)
- They are infinitely more creative with their cameras and streaming and sharing technologies than we are. My students find ways to use the technology that never occurred to us. These uses can be both good and bad (especially in finding novel ways to cheat.)
- But the biggest factor, I think, is that they not only see themselves, they see their friends and family and classmates at all stages of their existences. It's not only seeing themselves ten years ago, they see when Dad still had all his hair and Mom was a bit thinner and so on.
All of this culminates in them being far less affected by cameras than we think they are. For most of the past few generations, cameras were a disruptive technology. Over the past 100+ years, each generation had an iteration that brought cameras ever deeper into our lives, starting Kodak and ending with the first generations of digital cameras. But if you're a twenty-year old in 2022, the iPhone has been around since you were five years old. The best analogy I can think of is that they are affected by the ubiquity of cameras about the same way we're affected by the ubiquity of cars - there are good points and bad points, sure, but mainly they just...are.
Very helpful and illuminating comment, Joel. Thank you for it.