How Many Followers Do YOU Have?

While riding on the bus on the way to class this morning, I began to feel my phone ringing in my pocket.  I reached to see who it was and it read, Heidi.  Heidi is my aunt who has three boys ages four, six, and nine. Picking up the phone and expecting her to be asking me to babysit at some point, I heard my sweet four-year-old cousin Nixon Tate's voice on the other end. "Do you know how many followers you have?" Nixon asked me in his extremely raspy and un-articulated voice. I had to ask again to understand.  Once I understood what he was saying, I had to ask 'what' again just to make sure I was hearing him right.  Was a four year old just asking me how many followers I had?

Nixon Tate is very technology savvy.  Even before Santa brought him an iPad for Christmas, he is notorious for always having a smart phone, laptop, or any other electronic device on hand.  He knows names of apps and ways to post and beat levels better than many of my own friends.  He is four.

When I finally got what he was saying on the phone this morning, I immediately asked without thinking, "On what?". He replied, "On instagram, Ashy, do you know how many followers you have?".  I replied honestly, "No, how many Nixon?".  After telling me how many he went on a long rampage about how I have so many and I am basically as famous as Lady Ga Ga (Nixon's favorite person of the month). Although I found all of this, much like many of mine and Nixon's conversations, to be amusing; I could not help but feel a certain ping of annoyance that he knew what he was talking about. I let my self think about this longer than I should have, or than I care to admit.

Then it hit me. Why am I disgracing Nixon and his brother's love, admiration, and knowledge of technology and social media?  This is the lifestyle of their generation, of course they know about it.  Instead of being annoyed of their amazing fluency with technology, I should be inspired.  Although, I do not think it is right how much they depend on technology and I have a fear that their indulgence in social media will hurt them both socially and self-consciously, they do know some very amazing ways to use technology without even barely having to think.

I think a lot of people in their 20's, like myself, get annoyed with older people (such as parents) for not being able to understand technology and social media but we get annoyed of the younger generation for knowing too much about using technology and social media.  There should be an embrace of the younger generations knowledge because they are the future.  Looking at what most of them, such as four-year-old Nixon, can do already, makes a very exciting outlook for the future.