App Generation

"When you're done with it, switch it off (provided you disable the push notification...)" (pg.97) I haven't turned off push notifications, and still check my watch whenever it vibrates on my wrist.  If I have trouble ignoring notifications, I can't imagine the difficulties that young people have ignoring them.  And I'm only getting notifications from news and sports sources, not when someone likes one of my posts, or wants to interact on some type of social media.

As discussed in the book, digital media gives youth tools to, "express and explore their identities." (pg. 61).  As cited in the book, many youth try to present a polished image online.  I often wondered when I was on Facebook why everyone seemed to have a better life and was doing things a lot more exciting than I was.  Obviously, it's because people only show the "best of the best" on social media.  As one student said, "...the rose colored glasses, because people aren't going to share how they got kicked off the soccer team...." (pg. 64)

What is the consequences of all these apps?  Increased anxiety?  No downtime?  Time away from tasks can quite often help with our cognitive thinking and help us gain new perspectives (especially with politics).(pg. 146)   They also can lead to increased collaboration and support in coming up with and creating ideas.  The trick is finding a balance.