One of the new aspects of modern culture is the quick addition of technology to society.  In previous times the additions were simply not as often seen by the common man.  More often than not, those additions did not add unlimited communication/connectivity for the average Joe to the world.  Now we have blogs, YouTube, and forums.  With such easily accessible means to make yourself look stupid, so many more people are doing that.  Sometimes they mean to, but sometimes they are too young to have any clue as to what their actions might do.  

So many children know easily how to lie around the various age restrictions online, and if their parents don’t know enough about computers, they would have no idea how to stop them.  This is similar to the situation with my family.  My niece’s and nephew’s parents have many more things going on in their life and don’t have much time to sit and learn how to understand all these different things about the games their kids play.  But the kids do, and they are learning like crazy.  Should they be prevented from even accessing the Web, or should they be allowed to because it’s understood how much it will be a part of society.  An “earlier they start, the better” mentality if you will?

They are learning to use technologies before they are old enough to really understand the implications of their actions, and they really have no one to prevent them.  My nephew is starting middle school next year, and I wonder how his generation will view this in the future?  Will they just learn to laugh it off or are current media practices to make sure that such things don’t happen, at least for a while.  You do something stupid, it stays with you forever, especially if it’s online.  The paranoia that comes along with all of this explains why so many people honestly don’t bother with the Web.  Who wants to be judged by millions of faceless names?