Millenial and The Media

It’s understood, young people’s interactions with digital media is unseparated from
their lives. People call them as “kids in now era”. They live in a sophisticated era, where everything is very easy and instant. Because of that, many people call them as “the instant generation”, where the people aren’t afraid of technology’s illiterate that can happen to the children. That’s because their children always live with their technology in their lives. Many people also said that they can’t exploit the development of technology and the flood of
information. So who are they?

They are the “Y generation” or usually mentioned as “the millennial generation”, called as “millennial” because they were born passed the first millennium which is measured by the generation theory made by Karl Mannheim in his essay titled “The Problem of Generation” in 1923, birth span (1982-2000).

In his book, especially in his theory (The Problem of Generation), is so similar to Karl
Max’s theory. That’s because, his thoughts are influenced by Karl Max and an expert of sociology, Neokontian, in sociology science. So who is Karl Max? And why does his theory influenced him so much?

A little thing about Karl Max, Karl Max is a philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, political theory maker and a socialist revolutioner from Germany. He was born in Trier, from a middle class family. The thought of politic and philosophy from him have an impact to the intellectual history. His most famous social theory about Capitalism and Marxism got a lot of praises, and at once, critics from many scientist, philosopher, and intellectualist. (Wikipedia)

It’s clear what “Pew Research Center”, located in Washington, said about the millennial
generation. They said that millennial generation can’t be separated from technology and media, because they have an impact role in the media.

They have an impact role and reasons. Why they can’t be separated from media? That’s
because, they guessed or have a positive opinion on how technology influences their lives. More than 74 per cent of people said that new technology make their lives much easier, and 54 per cent of them said that new technology makes them closer with their families. (metrotvnews.com, Jakarta)

According to Donna Halper, professor of communication and media at the Lesley University, in
her essay titled “What is The Importance of Mass Media on Youth?”, she said that the usage of media is not bad. For example, whether we are living in Indonesia or in another country, the answer can be applied to young people everywhere; mass media can be a mixed blessing. It can be a very positive impact on youth, or a very negative one; it all depends on how we use it.

But the problem is that for some kids, entertainment media become an obsession. They
don’t study or pay attention to school, they don’t interact with friends, they don’t even get outside and enjoy the world around them, or to join fan groups that support a team or an entertainer (or even a cause), others use it to mock or bully. In that example not always media is bad, vice versa.

 

Quoting the said of the Ali bin Abi Thalib, radiyallahu anhu, “La tuhmilu awladakum
ala akhlaqikum fainnahum khuliqu lizamani ghoiru zamanikum”, and quotes from Umar bin Khattab, radiyallahu anhu, in the book ‘kanzul umal fi sunanil aq wali wal af’al’ written by Alauddin Ali bin Hisyamuddin al-Hindi and the book ‘jami’ul ahadis’ written by Imam As-Suyuthi; the book said that umar obligated the syam people to learn how to swim, row, and
ride a horse. From the quote by Umar, why does he obligate the Syam people to learn all of that? That’s all because, in that era, many war happened.

From the two quotes above, we can conclude that we must learn in accordance to our era. And
from the quote also, we must sort and choose what is good and bad from our living in this era.

 

 

By: Muhammad Faiz Al Arobi