Growing Up In A Confessional Culture
Posted by anastasia on 07-21-2008I managed to attend a tiny bit of Blogher on Friday (I was so tired) and heard some of the closing keynote. Various "Bloghers" read their blog posts out loud and some were incredibly emotional and heavy including one mother who was so mentally and physically distraught during her pregnancy that she overdosed on pills in her seventh month. I have never maintained a public personal blog, and despite my occasional use of memoir as a device to illustrate how young people haven't changed that much, I tend to keep my really personal stuff private. It's just outside my comfort zone to bare my soul to strangers.
That said, I'm writing about this because I think a lot of the coverage around how youth are using technology paints teenagers as a generation of exhibitionists blogging about everything and ok with putting their lives online for all to see — future employers, school recruiters, etc. And while I do think on the whole, the younger generation may be more comfortable with being public (or at least those who even realize that their digital lives can be found for public consumption), our current confessional culture stretches far beyond teens as these mom bloggers reminded me.
This trend of putting it all out there was not started by teenagers — some would argue that it started with MTV's Real World and the resulting proliferation of reality television, the explosion in the publishing genre of memoir and then with blogs, which really began as personal, public diaries. Look at the recent cover stories of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, reg. required, (Emily Gould and David Carr) — we are in the midst of a personal sharing explosion. Some may feel it's self indulgent, TMI or oversharing, others find comfort in realizing they are not alone in their pain and suffering or even in the mundane. But before we pin this on teenagers, we need to acknowledge that they are simply reflecting the cultural values they are growing up with.
Any adult who keeps a really personal public blog under their own name runs just as much risk of being not hired or fired as any young person. And then there is the issue of mom bloggers who blog about their children and teenagers, adding to their kids' "digital trails." Don't blame "the kids" for what has been a much larger cultural shift. Thoughts?
July 21st, 2008 at 11:15 am
The guests on daytime talk shows (The Phil Donahue Show, Oprah Winfrey Show, and Jerry Springer Show) are also part of the history of people exposing personal information about themselves to the public.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:56 am
I agree with Eric and, furthermore, this has been going on for decades. When I was a teen in the 60s and 70s there was a big push to be as open as possible about everything. Confessional..um..personal writing was also very big. What feels different to me is the visual — we wrote and talked, but now there is a lot more viewing and seeing.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I agree that sharing personal experiences publically comes from the need to feel part of a group, to share thoughts with like minded thinkers. The younger gen doesn't go to any random site and spill their guts, they go where they know their values will be shared and rewarded with what I'm am bout to give when a press the post button, a "comment".
July 21st, 2008 at 12:44 pm
When reality TV culture goes too far…
July 21st, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Anastasia,
great insight. In my work with teens, I've grown to see this more and more. Teens are increasingly willing to share with great depth to many of those who seem to have no business being let in so far.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:31 am
The conflict between private and public has always been there (especially if we look to literature). What do we show to the world and what do we keep behind the closed doors of our home and mind? I find the statement that “we are in the midst of a personal sharing explosion” particularly interesting. It is true that people seem more open (at least where computer-mediated communication is concerned), and I wonder when we will start to impose limits upon what is appropriate to share and what is not.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:59 am
some would argue betty ford started this trend.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
At the end of the day, the genesis doesn't truly matter. What matters is it IS a tell-all world and privacy issues are going to arise at some point for some of the teens who post-it-all. Twitter.com (which I must say I use) feels like one of the most self-indulgent tell alls….even if it is micro-blogging. It is almost as if people are afraid they are going to "miss something" if they aren't reading about everyone else, and of course, over sharing themselves. It's still surprising to me what teen girls post on Facebook and MySpace. And after years of being in the trenches with teen girls, one would think I would be immune. But not yet. It's TMI very often! Thanks for a great blog on the topic.