The Internet is great; you cannot deny that. Over the years, it has allowed me to connect with many different people from all over the world, regardless of their gender, race, sexual preference, etc.
We have all come from different walks of life, have had experiences that some of us could only dream of (and some not very pleasant ones, too), but the fact of the matter is: I can call these people my friends.
My inner child cries out, "YAY! I'm finally p-p-p-popular!" I tell her to shut up, as this post isn't talking about a former loser finally having friends. My inner child cries.
Yeah, anyway... My point is, I've recently become a social networking addict. I'm an active member of websites such as Twitter and Plurk, and within the last month or so, I've gotten to know a lot of very interesting people, whose ages happen to range from 13 to 60+. Somehow, I've managed to find something in common with all of these people. Basically, like the picture says, we all know cool stuff.
Here's the deal. My name is Rammi. I can talk about Web 2.0, the possible definitions of Web 3.0, HTML/CSS/PHP/basic programming, 60s/70s/80s/90s music, sporks, LOLcats and shiny gadgets just as well as the next geek you'd happen to pass on the street. I was a Vox beta tester, and I spork people as well as anyone else. I'm happiest in front of a computer and I walk, talk and breathe like your average human being - although some may want to dispute that fact. :-D I bet you'd find me slightly irritating love me if you got to know me.
Why are some people so surprised when they find out I'm 15? Yes, I was born in the 90s. Yes, I may not have lived on this earth for very long yet, but that doesn't make me any less of a person, does it?
Yes, I have accounts on Twitter/Plurk/most social networking sites in the world (practically all of them are listed in the sidebar of my Vox). Yes, my mother is perfectly fine about it, thank you very much. Yes, I am mature enough to conduct myself in an adult manner, and no, I don't spam.
Obviously, I am perfectly capable of typing coherently in full sentences.
Why must some people patronise me because of my age? I'm not saying all of you do, since most of you are lovely. I was reading through my Plurk timeline recently, and I saw this plurk which was probably directed at me, asking why a 15 year old would want to 'friend' him. The answer is because I found his profile through a mutual friend and thought his updates were interesting. Do you have to be a particular age to be able to find someone interesting? What irked me the most was when the rest of the plurk said he wasn't interested in authorities questioning him. Cue me going: "WTF?!" So, just because a 15 year old is listed as a friend on a social networking profile, that automatically makes him a pervert? Going by that logic, that means practically all my online friends (some who I've even met in real life, btw) are perverts. I'm not saying random friend requests aren't annoying - I reject most requests from people I don't know on MySpace/Facebook/whatever. But with micro-blogging sites, things are different - I mean, updates like 'I am eating tacos' aren't exactly groundbreaking, are they? If you like someone's updates, you follow them. It's as simple as that.
What's stopping people of different ages from being friends? Nothing, that's what. One of the loveliest people I know here on Vox is older than me by about 30 years. The people I meet up with are generally older than me. Many spouses have a large age gap between them. Hey, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if I was a 26 year old social media journalist (sorry, random, I know). We wouldn't be having this conversation if I was older, full stop.
If you're scared of offending my sensibilities or corrupting me, then you're way too late. I'm not proud of it, but I already have a dirty enough mind as it is. Have you seen the stuff that the media aim at people my age? Basically, nothing you say or do can shock me. I've seen it all before. We're smarter, wiser, (better, faster, and stronger, etc.) and changing technologies mean we now know more than you did when you were young. I'm not ashamed of that. Instead of running away from the most socially-aware generation in years, you should be embracing them instead.
... Literally, if you must. I like free hugs as much as the next person. XD You never know, one of us could be millionaires by tomorrow, and then you can have a new claim to fame, instead of being the person who shunned the millionaire. :-D
My final question is this: Why must potential friendships be ruined by pre-judgement? To be honest with you, I don't care if you're male or female, old or young, straight or gay or asexual; if you're interesting and I like talking to you, then you're my friend. End of. Judging others takes up too much time; time that could be spentplurking and tweeting every single aspect of my life on something much more valuable. :-)
As the old adage goes, 'never judge a book by its' cover'... For all you know, they could be using these Cover Up book covers. ...Although I do draw the line at reading a Danielle Steel novel.
Friend me, follow me, unfollow me, delete me, block me... Do what you want (it IS the Internet, after all). But make sure it's for all the right reasons, i.e. you find me too annoying to deal with, instead of just seeing my age and basing all your future judgements of me on that.
Don't judge me for being 15, and I promise not to judge you for being 51/37/23/32/whatever. :-D
Finally, lest I forget: *sporks*
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We have all come from different walks of life, have had experiences that some of us could only dream of (and some not very pleasant ones, too), but the fact of the matter is: I can call these people my friends.
My inner child cries out, "YAY! I'm finally p-p-p-popular!" I tell her to shut up, as this post isn't talking about a former loser finally having friends. My inner child cries.
Yeah, anyway... My point is, I've recently become a social networking addict. I'm an active member of websites such as Twitter and Plurk, and within the last month or so, I've gotten to know a lot of very interesting people, whose ages happen to range from 13 to 60+. Somehow, I've managed to find something in common with all of these people. Basically, like the picture says, we all know cool stuff.
Why are some people so surprised when they find out I'm 15? Yes, I was born in the 90s. Yes, I may not have lived on this earth for very long yet, but that doesn't make me any less of a person, does it?
Yes, I have accounts on Twitter/Plurk/most social networking sites in the world (practically all of them are listed in the sidebar of my Vox). Yes, my mother is perfectly fine about it, thank you very much. Yes, I am mature enough to conduct myself in an adult manner, and no, I don't spam.
Obviously, I am perfectly capable of typing coherently in full sentences.
Why must some people patronise me because of my age? I'm not saying all of you do, since most of you are lovely. I was reading through my Plurk timeline recently, and I saw this plurk which was probably directed at me, asking why a 15 year old would want to 'friend' him. The answer is because I found his profile through a mutual friend and thought his updates were interesting. Do you have to be a particular age to be able to find someone interesting? What irked me the most was when the rest of the plurk said he wasn't interested in authorities questioning him. Cue me going: "WTF?!" So, just because a 15 year old is listed as a friend on a social networking profile, that automatically makes him a pervert? Going by that logic, that means practically all my online friends (some who I've even met in real life, btw) are perverts. I'm not saying random friend requests aren't annoying - I reject most requests from people I don't know on MySpace/Facebook/whatever. But with micro-blogging sites, things are different - I mean, updates like 'I am eating tacos' aren't exactly groundbreaking, are they? If you like someone's updates, you follow them. It's as simple as that.
What's stopping people of different ages from being friends? Nothing, that's what. One of the loveliest people I know here on Vox is older than me by about 30 years. The people I meet up with are generally older than me. Many spouses have a large age gap between them. Hey, we wouldn't even be having this conversation if I was a 26 year old social media journalist (sorry, random, I know). We wouldn't be having this conversation if I was older, full stop.
If you're scared of offending my sensibilities or corrupting me, then you're way too late. I'm not proud of it, but I already have a dirty enough mind as it is. Have you seen the stuff that the media aim at people my age? Basically, nothing you say or do can shock me. I've seen it all before. We're smarter, wiser, (better, faster, and stronger, etc.) and changing technologies mean we now know more than you did when you were young. I'm not ashamed of that. Instead of running away from the most socially-aware generation in years, you should be embracing them instead.
... Literally, if you must. I like free hugs as much as the next person. XD You never know, one of us could be millionaires by tomorrow, and then you can have a new claim to fame, instead of being the person who shunned the millionaire. :-D
My final question is this: Why must potential friendships be ruined by pre-judgement? To be honest with you, I don't care if you're male or female, old or young, straight or gay or asexual; if you're interesting and I like talking to you, then you're my friend. End of. Judging others takes up too much time; time that could be spent
Friend me, follow me, unfollow me, delete me, block me... Do what you want (it IS the Internet, after all). But make sure it's for all the right reasons, i.e. you find me too annoying to deal with, instead of just seeing my age and basing all your future judgements of me on that.
Don't judge me for being 15, and I promise not to judge you for being 51/37/23/32/whatever. :-D
Finally, lest I forget: *sporks*
