Teenage Media

BBC NEWS | Magazine | The wisdom of teenagers

This does not mean there is a lack of teen intellect, it instead means that the majority of teenagers are utilising the new forms of media. Teens will often read free papers such as the Metro, which also include celebrity gossip and shocking stories and are more interesting than stories about the economy or swine flu.

I'm very interested in new media and it's good to see this article on the BBC which acknowledges a lot of the new phenomena, even mentioning the legendary Philip "You've just been filled in" DeFranco who is probably the only youtube-diarist that I don't want to murder. Anywho, this part made me stop and think; the first sentence seems to suggest that teens are looking for new forms of media, and stating that there is no "lack of intellect" suggests to me that teenagers know what they want to read and know where to find it. The second sentence, however, admits that teens "often read free newspapers such as the metro which contain" the usual shit about celebrities and are the main reason for the downfall of our society etc. So teenagers are using their "intellect" to be lazy and consume whatever media is shoved in their face while they're on the train and have nothing better to do?

I used to hate myself every time I got on the train without the Guardian and was forced to read the shite that they spew from the pages of the Metro - staring out the window is a far better use of anyones intellect - and I hate these teenage Metro readers with equal vengeance. It's also important to remember that the Metro is published by the same bastards that torture our country with the Daily Mail every day, so next time you're on the train and facing the choice between hours of brain-quashing boredom or reading the Metro, please, please, think of the children.

Technorati Tags: new media, metro, daily mail, associated press