{"id":66930,"date":"2021-08-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/?p=66930"},"modified":"2021-08-24T13:08:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T20:08:24","slug":"mozilla-cmo-lindsey-shepard-thoughts-pocket-college-essay-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/mozilla\/mozilla-cmo-lindsey-shepard-thoughts-pocket-college-essay-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what I learned from reading dozens of essays about the internet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This past graduation season, Mozilla\u2019s Pocket <\/a>teamed up with Her Campus for The Future Connection<\/a>, a writing contest for college students\u00a0to reflect on what it\u2019s like to come of age in a \u201chyper-online and always-connected world.\u201d While this isn\u2019t a new concept for them \u2014 this generation, including our essay contest winner, Esther Omole,\u00a0were born into a digital society \u2014 the postponement and outright cancelation of in-person graduations and prom-nights because of COVID-19, made the last truly \u201coffline\u201d rites of passage to adulthood into virtual events.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As both a mom and a leader in tech, I think about the impact of growing up with technology a lot \u2014 especially during the last 19 months. What would social distancing as a result of COVID-19 look like without the internet? Earlier this year, when I helped my mom learn to video-call so that she, too, could attend the virtual festivities of graduation season, I was so thankful for the connection of the internet. But I still wonder, have the oddly connective-yet-destructive powers of the internet created a larger void for the younger generations that never lived in a world free of shiny screens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same complicated feeling of \u2018loss\u2019 around the increasing dependence of being online for everything I\u2019ve felt this year, was mirrored time and time again in\u00a0the essays from young people I read. Here are my main takeaways from this experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are the IoT Generation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more conversations I have had with folks at the start of their career, the more nostalgic it makes me feel that the way I think about the \u2018Internet of Things\u2019 is outdated: Digital life and the opportunities and challenges it represents are not something young people are actively exploring. Being online is equivalent to breathing oxygen for them and has been a constant since day-one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a different perspective and even as a CMO who frequently speaks on the \u2018Internet of Things,\u2019 that humility to move forward and steward our mission on to a new and increasingly brilliant generation is something that I need to continually remind myself of. Yes, my generation did some great shit, but it\u2019s important for me to take a step back and recognize that even after so much change, the internet remains this incredibly innovative space.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking In Meme<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us feel uncomfortable or even \u2018naked\u2019 without our mobile device in hand. While society tells us that this sensation is unhealthy, one of the most provocative essays I read exuded absolute pride in the uncanny attachment their generation has with consumer technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My kids are 14 and 11. They were delivered right into the internet. It completely dominates their culture, and even if they’re not online all the time, so much of how they interact with each other and how their generation relates to each other is found in the \u2018Internet of Things\u2019. They literally speak in memes \u2013 a language that\u2019s sometimes hard for me to understand. It\u2019s hard to blame them when the most up-to-date news information is online, the majority of today\u2019s entertainment is consumed via Twitter threads and sub-Reddits, and even the food we eat is influenced by TikTok recipes and Instagram-foodies. So instead of questioning the morality of today\u2019s hyper-online culture, the better question to ask is how society can expect this generation to navigate life without carrying their phones around like a second-limb? It\u2019s the reality they were born into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod, it\u2019s brutal out here!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wise words of pop-princess, Olivia Rodrigo\u2013 the internet can be a pretty harsh place. The constant cycle of performance and consumption over and again on a small, bright screen filled with hundreds of others doing the exact same thing can be pretty numbing. At the same time, the internet is a gift, connecting us intimately with friends, distant family members, and even neighborly strangers that we never would have known of otherwise. This turbulent duality is a consequence of living in an always-connected world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a community of other like-minded people for everyone on the internet. This internet culture of support and constructive criticism in micro-communities has helped young people redefine what success and happiness means to them, effectively breaking the molds and cultural norms that were passed on to them from hometowns, families, and traditions. However, even though our favorite people are a text, DM or Slack away \u2013 you\u2019re never truly alone online \u2014 it\u2019s still possible to feel lonely and isolated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking with Esther, who confirmed this sentiment, advised the next generation growing up in the digital age to \u201creclaim the way that they consume things on the Internet, knowing that the internet does mirror and perpetuate a lot of harmful images and issues that we see in society.\u201d She also advises these next digital natives to \u201cuse their time on the Internet in a way that’s also uplifting. I’ve been seeing a lot of anti-anxiety infographics on Instagram that are really comforting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These takeaways certainly aren\u2019t new and my interpretation of these essays isn\u2019t going to shatter the world. But, maybe as you read through the winning contest essay, appropriately titled, \u2018Reflection: Embracing My Undulating Image\u2019,<\/a> you\u2019ll be caught in a wave of nostalgia. You might see yourself in these young people and remember what it was like to teeter on the cusp of adulthood. Technology has changed what growing up looks like, but it hasn\u2019t made and can\u2019t make the process of finding yourself online easier.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past graduation season, Mozilla\u2019s Pocket teamed up with Her Campus for The Future Connection, a writing contest for college students\u00a0to reflect on what it\u2019s like to come of age in a \u201chyper-online and always-connected world.\u201d While this isn\u2019t a new concept for them \u2014 this generation, including our essay contest winner, Esther Omole,\u00a0were born […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1825,"featured_media":66932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30710,463312,5],"tags":[464069],"coauthors":[442564],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMozilla CMO Lindsey Shepard on reading gen-z essays about the internet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This past graduation season, Mozilla\u2019s Pocket teamed up with Her Campus for The Future Connection, a writing contest for college students.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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