While making my way through Model 9: New Horizons, I read the assigned reading article, Growing up with Alexa: A child’s relationship with Amazon’s voice assistant By Samantha Murphy Kelly. Around the same time, I had come across some posts on social media that really resonated with me in my time of life. I am in my late 30’s, am married, I have school aged children, and I am finally coming out of the fog of being a stay-at-home mom to babies and then small children. During that time I lived in a bubble and somewhat lost touch with some things. Even with that, I often find myself feeling as if I am “playing” at an adult and not realizing the extent of change with today’s younger adults/teens.
The article mentioned above talks about how when babies/toddlers are learning to talk, they are learning the name “Alexa” as one of their first words because of the prevalence of repetition of the word with use of the Amazon Echo. Before reading the article I had come across the “Then vs. Now” challenge on social media. Where millennial moms and Gen Z. teens compare how they would hand gesture such things as “picking up a phone” and “rolling down a car window.” (See video #1 below). In another post I had come across, a millennial mom talks about how popular millennial names are “old people names.” (See video #2 below).
Video #1: (Click on screen shot for video — couldn’t embed)
Video #2:
@ciaoamberc
These three things really hit home to me about the changes in the world and how I and people my age as a whole need to change the way we think and do things. We are not where the future is going, we are the current, but we need to work towards changing things for the future of our children. This comes into play with the need of change in the library, how libraries do things, and the changes and “new horizons” coming to the library world. We and the libraries we are going to be a part of need to start adapting and being open—to technology, how things are run, and our offerings for our public’s evolving needs.
References
Alam, Z. (2024, February 7). Hilarious ‘Then vs. Now’ challenge between millennial mom and Gen Z daughter has internet in stitches. Good. https://www.good.is/hilarious-then-vs-now-challenge-between-millennial-mom-and-gen-z-daughter-has-internet-in-stitches
ciaoamberc. (2024, February 16). #Momlife #millennial #millennialsoftiktok #parenting [Video]. TikTok. Retrieved March 23, 2024, from https://www.tiktok.com/@ciaoamberc/video/7336267777432407327
Kelly, S. M. (2018, October 16). Growing up with Alexa: A child’s relationship with Amazon’s voice assistant. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/16/tech/alexa-child-development/index.html
livingwithlady. (2024, January 15). It’s like two velociraptors. . .🫶 Any we missed?! Do this with someone from another generation and compare answers; did you get any the same?! [Video]. Instagram. Retrieved March 23, 2024, from https://www.instagram.com/livingwithlady/reel/C2JFPJZpBa0/
Perry, T. (2024, March 1). Daughter says Millennial names are “old.” Upworthy. https://www.upworthy.com/mom-is-shocked-after-daughter-says-millenial-names-are-for-old-people
@laurele this was so much fun. I also appreciate your candor and sharing where you have found yourself in life. The videos you shared were perfect for absolutely illustrating your points.
@laurele, so interesting to think about! Each generation has their own idiosyncrasies and think our own is immutable. I’ve never felt like such an old foagie as I have since having an 11-year-old daughter (I’m 42). I’ll have to try the “heart hands” challenge with her. 🫶