11% of Americans don’t use the internet

Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by simmons on Monday July 23, 2018 @05:54PM (#17596350)

I don't know if people or specifically children were happier in the 80s/90s, but after spending a couple of weeks with my 10-year-old niece, I'm completely floored at how she tries to fill every waking minute passively consuming content such as YouTube. It wouldn't be so bad if children were using the Internet to do something constructive or educational.

Of course, plenty of people from my generation spent their childhoods in front of the TV, but perhaps that was more easily regulated. (My parents, at least, wouldn't let me watch TV endlessly.)

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by superbaconman on Monday July 23, 2018 @06:06PM (#17596402)

I just realized that growing up computers were basically only for research and creating content. Now that bandwidth is so cheap computers are only for consumption.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by majewsky on Monday July 23, 2018 @06:11PM (#17596432)

Don't know when you grew up, but computer games were already a thing before the internet became widely available.

(Of course, a video game is vastly more engaging and interactive than a random YouTube video.)

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by gurkendoktor on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:07PM (#17596783)

There's nothing inherently wrong with consumption, and it overlaps with doing research. You could be watching educational videos or deeply philosophical discussions on YouTube all day. I don't even mind pure consumption devices like my Kindle or my iPad because there's so much great content around.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by slededit on Monday July 23, 2018 @06:34PM (#17596575)

"computers" as in traditional PCs are regaining their creator role. Microsoft even calls their windows update "Creator Edition". Phones and tablets are almost pure consumption devices with a few exceptions.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by readhn on Monday July 23, 2018 @06:12PM (#17596449)

They dont call us "consumers" for nothing....

soon they'll take away the keyboards and other ways/inputs to mess with the "insides" of a computer ... and all you'll have is a touch screen to choose this or that.. while consuming...actually thats happening already with iPad etc..

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by readhn on Monday July 23, 2018 @06:26PM (#17596531)

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201803290068.html

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by jMyles on Monday July 23, 2018 @06:45PM (#17596640)

> I'm completely floored at how she tries to fill every waking minute passively consuming content such as YouTube.

...is that so bad? She has an incredible world of content at her fingertips; what's the virtue in refraining from involving herself in it?

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by novia on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:12PM (#17596816)

I'm not the OP, but having also watched a ten year old consume YouTube videos... they tend to stay far far away from anything remotely educational.

For example, this is the kind of thing that the particular kid I know watches: https://youtu.be/5O66ssNpg_A

22 million views. So basically nothing is gained from watching these sorts of videos. But what's lost? Maybe the opportunity to connect with family members?

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by Rjevski on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:23PM (#17596868)

Define educational.

Watching stupid Call of Duty videos as a teenager is what allowed me to learn English (I am not a native English speaker) and I now owe my entire career to that.

On the other hand, proper “educational” stuff has yet to make me a penny.

Just because it doesn’t look “educational” (or should I say boring) to you doesn’t mean the kid isn’t learning stuff by watching (or listening to) the video. Chances are, those people are doing real-life stuff that is never taught in school and they would otherwise try to figure it out by themselves via trial and error.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by yesiamyourdad on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:33PM (#17596917)

That's pretty funny. When I was in college I had a roommate from Colombia and mentioned that I'd like to learn some Spanish. He enthusiastically recommended watching the Spanish language soaps on Telemundo, he told me watching American soaps is how he learned most of his English.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by novia on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:26PM (#17596885)

I edited my comment and added a link to a typical video. The child watching this is already fluent in English.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by Rjevski on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:31PM (#17596910)

That video is stupid but it is worse than reality TV shows or cartoons? It’s entertainment. Doesn’t always have to have a further purpose beyond passing time and satisfying curiosity.

My comment about English was just an example, when completely stupid (by my own admission) videos still somehow still managed to contribute to my life and career.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by LyndsySimon on Monday July 23, 2018 @08:18PM (#17597125)

Is it really substantively different from “imaginative play”?

My own kids watch similar stuff quite a bit, and while I don’t enjoy watching it with them, they enjoy it and talk about it with their friends. They even make their own (private) videos for fun.

Ask any kid age six to twelve or so these days what they want to be, and most will reply “I want to be a YouTuber!”

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by gurkendoktor on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:01PM (#17596749)

There are studies about the benefits of boredom:

https://www.melbournechildpsychology.com.au/blog/the-benefit...

I think there's plenty of "cultural evidence" for this too: the subreddit for wacky revelations is called /r/showerthoughts, and the shower is the last place where we have no screens or books around us.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by magic_beans on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:52PM (#17596999)

But you’re not bored in the shower. You are doing a task. The most creative thoughts don’t come when you are bored, but when you are doing something routine or low effort.

Sitting on the couch staring at a wall won’t have the same effect, but doing housework will.

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Re:11% of Americans don’t use the internet by simmons on Monday July 23, 2018 @07:55PM (#17597016)

Having grown up in a small town in the 80's where it was hard to get access to all the media I might have wanted, I can really appreciate how great it is that kids today have access to this incredible world of content! And there's a lot of fun and engaging ways that kids use modern technology, whether it's playing Minecraft or keeping up with friends and family.

I'm mostly concerned about the specific category of content that tries to be as addictive as possible to young minds. Yes, people in the 80's tried to make content as addictive as possible, but people today are so much more skilled at it.

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