WSJ has an A1 story on the generational disillusionment Gen Z feels with every aspect of American life. They have no faith in any American institution whatsoever, from the presidency to the press. How can this country continue if two consecutive generations don’t believe in it? It needs to be a national project to turn this around. wsj.com/politics/elect…
2/ I know y’all are going to hate me quote tweeting her, but @Lauren_Southern is dead on here. It’s really easy to blame TikTok, but there’s a deeper problem that’s much harder to solve going on.
2/ I know y’all are going to hate me quote tweeting her, but @Lauren_Southern is dead on here. It’s really easy to blame TikTok, but there’s a deeper problem that’s much harder to solve going on.
Step one: make “for you” algorithms illegal. Social media has created personalized echo chambers that operate on a feedback loop, feeding people only the information that continually strengthens their fears. Small fears can grow exponentially into wild assertions in just a matter of hours. That’s unprecedented. Our minds aren’t built for that kind of change, and it happens, it causes trauma.
@BriannaWu All of those institutions lie lie lie
Much of the problem is with Generation Z itself. They are not forming new political organizations, as earlier generations did, nor are they joining older political organizations, nor do they volunteer their time with many civic organizations. I've read they volunteer much less than previous generations. They are simply disengaged, much more so than previous generations. They are distant from the democratic process. And they tend to talk about the government more as consumers rather than citizens. The problems that they complain about could be addressed if they simply joined civic organizations and volunteered their time with political organizations, but they are not doing that. They seem to think that hitting the "Like" button on an angry-rant political video is the same as political engagement. At some point they need to learn what real political engagement is, otherwise things will continue to get worse.
@BriannaWu A good start would be educatuon as this is the most uninformed generation ever, getting their news from TikTok
@BriannaWu They never do. This is completely normal. Show me the generation since WW2, and I'll show the hand wringing. I'm old Gen X. We had metal detectors in high school.
@BriannaWu It all comes down to social media and TikTok took a bad situation and made it worse. Fringe opinions had no platform before that. Now fringe and radical opinions are much easier to spread than moderate ones. You feel it yourself when you try to share any nuanced opinion.
@BriannaWu It goes back to education, to me: some stable genius decided to teach a lack of faith as authoritative (failing to remind that lack of faith in institutions should apply to the institutions implying lack of faith, too)... and it took. And spread.
@BriannaWu Both parties need to go too, as well as MAGA, which hopefully dies in November. And we see where we go from there. At least that's my take
@BriannaWu In 2013, 85% of people aged 18-34 said they were extremely proud to be American. By 2023, only 18% said they were proud. It may not just be TikTok, but social media for sure is destroying youth civic engagement with American institutions (from Axios)