I'm So Glad That Social Media Didn't Catch My Cringiest Teenage Moments
Aren't you?
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Generation X had the good fortune of having no digital tools that documented their bad decisions
Do you remember being a teenager? You know - that time when you thought that your parents were soooo stupid that they knew absolutely nothing about life? Or how about the fact that in your mind, they had absolutely no clue about what was important, of value or just plain interesting?
Yes parents, in a teenager’s eyes, really needed to back off, because they didn’t know what on earth they were talking about.
We knew. We just did.
We were, after all, between the ages of 13 and 18 and the world was our oyster. We were the coolest generation, wore the coolest clothes, listened to the coolest music and were just, well cool. End of story.
Or so we thought.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
The self-righteousness and sense of importance that accompanies teenage-hood cannot be underestimated. With hormones raging and a newfound sense of self (whether good or bad), it’s no surprise that this age group has been known for millennia to say and do really stupid things. Don’t believe me? Take a few seconds and think about your most embarrassing or ridiculous statement/action/behaviour(s) and I guarantee that you were under the age of 18 and older than 12.
“Thank GOD there was no social media when I was a teen,” I find myself saying constantly.
There but for the grace of God go I.
Life is a crap shoot. You don’t get to choose when you’re born. Regardless, let us Gen-Xers be thankful that whomever was rolling the dice chose our generation to emerge within one that was analogue-based.
‘Thank GOD there was no social media when I was a teen,’ I find myself saying constantly.
One can’t pick up their phone or turn on their computer without viewing numerous examples of teens making really bad decisions. No, it’s not the fact that they’re doing so - that’s to be expected and part and parcel of growing up. It’s the fact that they’re doing it on video, recording it, making a permanent digital footprint of their poor teenage decisions to be forever available for any person with even a shred of digital literacy to find. After all: the Internet is forever.
Yea, yea, I know. “So WHAT?” the kids say. “Everybody’s doing it and everyone has a digital profile.” True. But what appears to be a “good decision” at 15 is anything but at the ripe old age of 35. It’s easy to look forward into one’s future, with visions of success dancing in one’s not-completely-formed prefrontal cortex. It’s another altogether as an adult to look back in horror at the glaringly bad decisions made and subsequently uploaded to TikTok/YouTube/Instagram and more.
The Internet is forever.
Life is a crap shoot. You don’t get to choose when you’re born. Regardless, let us Gen-Xers be thankful that whomever was rolling said dice chose our generation to emerge within one that was analogue-based.
Patience, Grasshopper.
Back in the day, we had cameras that had film in them, had to think about structuring and composing an image, and then had to wait to get them developed. It was that time period that gave us pause and allowed us to decide whether or not we were going to share the images with our friends and families once received. If they were awful (or blurred), we’d just keep them to ourselves. If we did choose to share them, it would be with a chosen few; we’d show the physical photos to our trusted few and maybe, if they were lucky, would make copies of specific pictures if asked.
And that was it. If we chose to share, it was only with those who would not cast judgement or invoke shame, or worse, share with anyone and everyone they could. End of story. The way many teens do things now however, there’s no buffer period for rethinking one’s decision, there’s rarely any forethought before sending and there’s almost never a question in one’s mind that says “should I really be sharing this?” The latter because sharing is the norm, not the exception.
All the cool kids are doing it, you know?
The net result is that instances of immediate regret are being felt daily by today’s generations who fell into the belief that anything and everything is and should be shareable.
For us older folks, “sharing” in the Generation X world meant showing our best selves (or at least what we thought looked that way) and shielding others from our cringiest and most embarrassing moments. Did that really happen? you may have asked yourself the day after vaguely recalling your worst or most appalling behaviour that you think might have occurred the night before. Your amnesia, may have been a result of mind-altering substances such as alcohol or drugs, or perhaps being mortified at one’s behaviour was an evolutionary favour that wiped out last night’s memories as a form of self-preservation.
Perhaps being mortified at one’s behaviour was an evolutionary favour that wiped out last night’s memories as a form of self-preservation.
Maybe it didn’t you assured yourself, as there were no pictures or video to prove the event’s existence. As they kids say: “pics or it didn’t happen.” In our time, there were no pics so you could fool yourself into believing that indeed, it didn’t happen.
Now?
Your worst moments are documented for all to see, whether on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat or the variety of other social media platforms. Perhaps your fair-weather friend texted your embarrassing actions to a group chat of similarly-minded fair-weather friends. Perhaps your ex-girlfriend, former best friend or fellow work employee that you’ve always ignored decided to let the rest of world see you at your “best.” The reality is that there’s no expectation of privacy in today’s world and if your’e out in public, you have to expect to be recorded - video, audio, via photo or otherwise.
Big Brother is watching. And so are your friends, enemies and random strangers. And they’ll continue to watch on a continuous loop if your actions in the video are that entertaining. Humiliating for you, yes, but entertaining for the millions of viewers who are looking for the latest funny meme or boneheaded behaviour of the young and foolish.
If we chose to share, it was only with those who would not cast judgement or invoke shame, or worse, share with anyone and everyone they could.
People talk about the “good ol’ days” when discussing life in a simpler time. Part and parcel of this wistful thinking is the recalling of memories that were experienced way back when. Often in this recall, we feel a range of emotions - longing, nostalgia, love. Similarly, we may cringe at the reminders of our worst youthful moments, while saying to ourselves “what on earth was I thinking?!” These memories - either good or bad- are meant to be just that: something that exists in the mind’s recesses and nowhere else. Not anymore. In the new world order, one must behave appropriately or risk being digitally shamed at any point in the future. This is a hard lesson to learn for those coming up in a time when sharing is a feature, not a bug.
Boy oh boy, am I glad there was no social media or digital technology when I was a teen. Analogue all the way.
