21st Century Citizen

I was talking to a friend the other day on what historians and anthropologists would say about the 21st century. It was quite staggering the type of cultural reforms that have taken place during my lifetime. So here are some key points that have defined the ways of my generation:

The Internet

The years that has probably defined our Internet culture were 2003-2005. Between those years we have seen the rise of such sites such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. MySpace and Facebook have revolutionised how we 'network'. We are able to share information instantly, follow people's moods and doings, organise events and throw sheep at one another. Youtube allows us to watch videos, listening to music and watch videos of random strangers tell us about their lives. I am a bit of a youtube addict. My subscriptions include communitychannel and fiveawesomegirls. This is rather amusing as one person I've encountered via YouTube is jerryhcooke, who happens to be good friends with Rachel. It was surreal when my irl and url lives met. Blogging is obviously another trend worth mentioning, as is Twitter, the micro-blog site.

Terrorism

Terrorism is not a phenomenon only encountered by my generation, but it is a threat that has somewhat defined us. After one day school my twin and I were told by the deputy head, who bumped into us, about two planes flying into two tall buildings in New York. Just under four years later I was sitting in my sixth-form common room reading about explosions in London. These days will be remember for many years to come. However, the threat of terrorism was one already known by the British, due to the activities of the IRA. In 2001, alone, the IRA detonated car bombs outside the BBC news centre, outside a post-office and Ealing Broadway; these are the ones just in London. However, the somewhat internal troubles of Northern Ireland have been superseded by more extensive international problems.

Economic downturn

The society of the 90s and 00s will be defined as decadent and frivolous. This is possibly set to change as we reach the 2010s. In December of 2007 the economy took a downturn and has kept on going. Perhaps our culture will become more frugal, especially if things get worse.