The death of text.
Just a little gripe from a grumpy old man. It is saddening to me that text is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. How often I have clicked on a post thinking "that sounds interesting," only to be greeted by a video of some talking head instead of some meaty text I can read and interpret at my leisure. Or some tweet with a one-liner and no context whatsoever.
I prefer to read arguments, not listen to someone present them verbally on a camera. Obviously I'm a dinosaur. And there's probably a good video or two discussing how the move towards video argumentation has changed the way we think as a species.
-- Mal
= new reply since forum marked as read
But apparently it is true. I was surprised too..
https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-voters-struggle-signatures-cast-mail-ballot-problems-2024-11?op=1
https://fortune.com/2024/11/07/gen-z-voters-basic-skill-signing-names-vote-counting-chaos-election-official/
He said more mail ballots have been rejected because of issues with young voters' signatures.
Many schools stopped teaching cursive in 2010, leading to a generation unfamiliar with the style.
As more schools stop teaching cursive handwriting, fewer young people have distinct signatures — and that could affect Gen Z voters as they try to cast their votes.
Gen Z is also apparently worse at deciphering disinfo :-/.
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-misinformation-susceptibility-online-gen-millennials.html
I am with you. I am also not into generation wars for either direction - this is only interesting as a potential indication of what happens when societies devalue education and invest less and less in it. Especially when such societies are also awash in junk filled social media and other brain rotting stuff. I don’t have a point about youth versus wisdom or tech versus Luddites.
My point is that a lot of the content I have seen people devouring is truly this low quality, brain rotting crap. And it is available at your finger tips. These are not quality, useful respectable services bought to you by useful tech often. It is low info, junk food for the brain. Idiocracy’s “ow my balls”.
I waste time skimming stuff too. I do not retain much and end up having too many tabs open. But at least the basic material I read is okay. It does bother me that I do not retain much unless I actively exert myself -it is a waste if you don’t retain stuff. But it is not low quality material at least.
But the few times people have shown me the stuff they watch on TikTok, I have found it appallingly unwatchable. I don’t know how anyone consumes large volumes of that crap. And yet I see people stare at their phones with glazed eyes looking almost zombified.
I do feel tech is making us stupider
That is not a criticism of these young people so much as of the system they are stuck with. My general impression is that we treat educators like crap and so why wouldn’t education suffer? And of course that gives the children of wealthier parents advantages that exacerbate inequality.
And I also don’t doubt that this constant stimulation media environment is brain rotting. It has definitely made me stupider on the whole
. As I said, it is not really good for long term retention, focus etc.
I actually went ahead and invested in a printer a few years ago and have found it worth it..
One of my favorite tech critics has written about it. He articulated the sense I had when I would look at that stuff-a disorienting sense that irrelevant garbage and meaningful info were casually jumbled together:
https://www.roughtype.com/?cat=21
I think we are on the same page 
. I agree with what you said. Broad sweeping generalisations are generally bound to be inaccurate anyway.
I think the main generational differences we are going to see will be due to accelerated deterioration of society. Hopefully it produces new responses from the youth as they (correctly) get more angry and frustrated with their lot.
I think it's an entertainment and attention/distraction thing. I loathe video training, for example, because I don't need to be entertained to take in the material. I don't understand why myself, but other people prefer videos. They're not wrong though to prefer videos.
I will happily watch a video of someone like Lawrence O'Donnell or Rachel Madow dissecting an issue, because they have a way of explaining things that are confusing and filling in gaps in my knowledge that greatly enhance my understanding of the matter at hand.
There are some youtubers who make good contributions as well. Luke Beasley is a favorite of mine, and Mary Trump is putting out some worthwhile video content these days, too.
I ignore a lot of the Meidas Touch (except Legal AF, which can be quite informative) and tiktok stuff, but it's easy to identify those, so they don't bother me.
I will admit that my attitude toward videos has softened since I got a hearing aid that has blue tooth. Now I can watch videos (or listen to podcasts) almost anywhere and no one can hear it but me. It's like having s superpower! 
particularly when any user clicks on a malicious link embedded within the text message, a practice commonly known as "smishing" (SMS phishing) which can lead to malware installation on the user's phone; however, simply receiving a text message without clicking on any links is generally not harmful.
The primary way malware is delivered through text messages is through malicious links that, when clicked, can redirect the user to a website designed to download malware or steal personal information.
But one never knows, does one. You might have forgotten that you've done that.
The death of your device might also be what's going on here.
How to identify suspicious texts:
1. Be wary of texts with urgent requests, unexpected offers, links from unknown senders, or requests for personal information.
Protection measures:
2. Do not click links from unknown senders .
3. Verify the sender before taking action .
4. Keep your phone's operating system and security software updated
Strong suggestions:
1. If your texting is connected by wifi to other devices like laptops and/or tablets or other phones, particularly Android, you take any one of them into a local computer tech shop (Geek Squad or ?) and have them check for malware on your device.
A techie searches for malware on devices by using antivirus software that employs techniques like signature-based detection, static and dynamic analysis to scan files and monitor system behavior, comparing them to a database of known malware signatures to identify potential threats; they may also use tools to check file checksums, monitor network traffic, and analyze suspicious file behaviors in a sandboxed environment to detect malicious activity.
If they find malware on any one of your devices, they'll probably find that malware on all of them. Why? Because of wifi transmission.
2. You can also have techies install Antivirus and anti-malware software on all your devices to detect and remove malware. These tools can provide real-time protection through constant scanning or detect and remove malware by executing routine system scans.
3. Most important: Do it before Trump assumes office. After that, absolutely do not respond to texts from anyone but a friend. And even then, know your friend's texting habits, since they could also transmit malware to you unawares; so don't open any attachments they pass along.
I can’t stand non-text media. It is distracting..it takes longer to process.
On a related note, I also find it annoying when people want you to make phone calls rather than use email or text. Dammit email is so easy! And requires so much less interaction ;-/.
I love text.
I also hate getting those stupid voice messages in lieu of a written note. They go on and on for ever. Text is so easy..if it is long you can skim and skip over stuff easily. And other people can do the same with one’s drivel.
I am relatively young (by DU standards anyway 
- I am in my mid forties and so I do remember a pre-internet life) but still feel this way.
