Earlier this week I read an article about a group of teenagers creating a weekly newspaper, called The Ditch Weekly. For the moment, it’s only available in the summer months. According to the article, the teens actually make profit with the newspaper.
What struck me about this endeavor was the desire to produce something in print. I also appreciated the teens finding ways to engage that didn’t require them to use social media. A lot of newspaper reporting requires talking to people, even if the talking may happen over technology. There is still the promise of face-to-face time, going out and exploring, and fact checking. All of these seem like good skills to develop to combat rapidly developing AI and a lack of original content creation.
I also felt a little surprised that these teens seemed to want something more nostalgic. Producing a printed, weekly publication in the summer sounds like something from my childhood. Albeit in today’s climate, I’m sure their printed publication looks way better than anything I could have designed and it’s probably easier to get copies made. Small things like that would have taken ages in my time. However, the technology can really speed up some of these process while also making it easy to create something that looks high-quality and professional.
While reading the article, I couldn’t help but wonder is this the start of the pendulum swinging back in the other direction. Perhaps the constant information bombardment on our phones fatigues us making a small publication seem appealing. After all, it forces us to slow down to read the pages instead of skimming and scrolling. The amount of content is manageable. We can enjoy the tactile sensation of holding something. It’s easier for people to share and read together, instead of hunching over a tiny screen. And it’s nicer on the eyes.
I don’t typically interact with teenagers, but I did feel curious to understand why they’re craving these types of experiences. Do they see something with the devices that we don’t notice because we’re using them so often? Though to be fair, I didn’t grow up with smartphones and social media. I’m sure that would have been a stressful experience for my teen-self, even though I probably wouldn’t have been aware in the moment. But maybe these teens can see how damaging some of these technologies can be and they’re making different decisions.
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