[THREAD] ***Completely unrelated to football so please ignore if you’re only here for Liga content.***

As the semester ends, I have a few reflections that I’d be up for discussing with anyone who’s interested—to get different insights, thoughts, and perspectives.

This was the first year where every (undergrad) student grew up w/smart phones. In some ways, this gen requires new approaches from educators.

I see similar things on twitter, where I’ve often been able to tell which age group I’m interacting with—*generally*.

Key observations of upcoming gen of students (born ~2000 and later):

(1) Increased feelings of neglect and isolation, more exposure to all levels of trauma, less emotional resilience, contradictory levels of tolerance, dichotomy of online v in-person “self”.

(2) Phones—while great resources when used well—can be an enemy of critical thinking, deep engagement, emotional heath, social interaction.

(3) Access to information. Lots of ppl who know “a little about a lot“—w/few willing to commit to the work required to gain true expertise.

(4) Increased diversity. Amazing—yet somewhat contradictory. Blurred “boundaries” defined by differences in ethnicity, religion, and sexuality; yet new lines drawn around political partisanship and—on football twitter—team loyalty. Primary “tribes” have been redefined.

(5) Shallow confidence. “Faux experts” who know just enough to speak w/authority, so new levels of demonstrated confidence... but falls apart when challenged at depth, leading to defensiveness and self-protection.

Surely related to access to info + online v in-person personas.

Disclaimer—these are a few initial insights from a Millennial male who grew up in two different cultures and works in 3 different countries/contexts. My experiences and observations are certainly NOT universal.

Question—how much of this resonates with you, no matter how old you are or where you live?

What do you most (dis)agree with?

I obviously didn’t go into much depth here, but can as needed.

For Football Twitter, how fairly does this mirror your experience as part of this subculture of Twitter?

Are these observations unique to younger users in your opinion, or is some of this more representative of cultural shifts at large?

Thanks for any feedback. It’ll help with some work I’m doing this year.

I know this isn’t football-related, so my apologies to those of you who only follow me for Liga content.