You Only Live Once
#Shattered.
I mean I am completely destroyed.
Why am I talking in hashtags?
#IHaveNoIdea
I was in the car in the weekend and the woman on the radio was speaking in hashtags. I promise you, every third word was hashtag something! She SAID hashtag!
It escapes me how something so quickly catches on as trend. I mean.. It’s almost like people are making up the most ridiculous words and everyone just falls head over heels in love.. I don’t know.. Maybe it’s just me getting older! Before this #HashtagFrenzy it was YOLO, which stands for You Only Live Once.
Whoever coined that phrase needs a slap.. *sigh*
This then somehow became a basis that many people used to do ridiculous things. I still to this day have only said that word out loud twice. It is a stupid acronym.. I’m sorry, that is just how I feel.
I think I am just showing my age! I had to ask my younger cousin (only younger by a year or so!) what it meant when I first heard it.. I was so confused and I am not afraid to admit that!
In my opinion, I think to a lot of the younger generation – And I am still in the younger generation, I’m only 24 – they don’t care for the correct English, grammar or punctuation. Saying a complete word is often described as being ‘long’ or as I’ve previously witnessed, caused a young person to be laughed at by their peers.
Case in point: Totes amaze – as opposed to: totally amazing. Uurgh. I just can’t.
I was reading in the news the other day that this generation has taken more pictures of themselves than any other generation to come before and have been dubbed the #SelfieGeneration.
Don’t get me wrong.. There is nothing wrong with taking a picture of yourself and uploading it to your favourite social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – but when it becomes so obsessive that if you don’t get that perfect selfie you try to commit suicide, I think it has gone a step too far!
Case in point: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/selfie-obsession-made-teenager-danny-bowman-suicidal-9212421.html
Yes, the article I chose may seem a bit extreme, but apparently this is the reality of some.
I know of course this young man has some underlying issues that lead to his downward spiral, but to me, it is still a dangerous issue that will most certainly affect other ‘vulnerable’ people.
You are beautiful. Yes, you – and you do not need 100 ‘Likes’ to validate the way you look.
I don’t know.. Maybe I don’t really engage in the act of #Selfies because in no way do I find myself photogenic and I find that has had a direct correlation with the amount of photographs I will present myself in.. I usually try for none if I can help it.. However if I am having a good day.. That can stretch to three or four. However; upon reviewing the photo and not liking it, my three to four can go back down to zero very quickly. Ha ha!
This post unintentionally turned into a mini-rant. I do apologise but I think these are valid issues – for myself anyway.
I know these trends won’t last forever, but the fact that young people are so susceptible to them constantly shocks me. I recall being bold.. But not half as bold as young people today. For a lot of them it seems like they are quickly sucked into this world of hashtags and selfies, yelling YOLO as they do that stupid thing that they know they shouldn’t do but this acronym now gives them validation to. I don’t get it. I try to, but it doesn’t happen a lot where I do.
I guess this is all in the stride of growing up. I want them to have fun and enjoy themselves! Heck! I want to have fun and enjoy myself!
These young people will grow up eventually and probably start saying the same thing I’m saying about the generation following them.. And that’s fine.. But for now.. While they can.. I think they can afford to be #YoungAndWildAndFree – in moderation!
Rant over.
Confessions of an Apple Junkie 
This made me laugh – I think I’m younger than you in many ways as I’m happy to indulge in a little lol or YOLO talk at times. I also use hashtags for real and for fun. At the same time I believe in grammar and correct use of words. I think the thing is that we live in a changing world and that always seems bewildering as you get older.
Be careful not to put causation the wrong way round though when it comes to stories of suicide. Like you say, there would have been underlying issues. I remember stories of Japanese kids committing suicide when their new tamagotchi virtual pets died. We couldn’t believe that could happen but in retrospect I think that when you are emotionally unsettled (as most teenagers are!) or mentally unstable (as too many adults are!) then your mind focuses on whatever it needs to feed its paranoia or unhealthy obsession.
For one it might be the ‘perfect selfie’ but for the other it might be trying to be thin, a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner or the inability to succeed at some aspect of their lives (even a game – believe me!). Sometimes the object of obsession isn’t the problem but merely a symptom of how the real problem is manifesting itself…
I can indulge in a little lol.. but not YOLO – I just find with YOLO a lot of people use it as an excuse to be stupid! I don’t like that.
I do agree with the further comments that you made about causation. I wasn’t saying that because he couldn’t create the perfect selfie he wanted to commit suicide.. I was saying that with people (young and old) that may have underlying issues, these “social pressures” – be it wanting to create the perfect selfie or wanting the most friends on Facebook; would become dangerous within these environments as it adds added pressure to (probably) already fragile minds.
Thank you for your input Ken. As always, very informative 🙂
Of course – no problem. Always glad to add my thoughts. After all YOLO 😉
Stop it! lol
Sorry – couldn’t resist 😛
Well said. I interview a lot of people at work, and the younger generation seems to speak a totally different language! Perhaps ‘english’ has gotten boring…idk (just kidding)
But great post 🙂
Blessings to you dear
JC
Thank you for leaving a comment 🙂
It is true.. I love English Language and Literature.. this is probably why I am so bothered. Others may not be.. which is fine too.. but don’t butcher what we have!
But like I said.. it’s all a part of growing up! 🙂