NWR: Is this what you thought of 21? Is this journalism in America now?

LakeR2014

I came across this lovely article thanks to Yahoo! homepage today.    It's written by an almost 22-year-old for Huffington Post, which although not the Washington Post or Wall Street Journal, to me is still somewhat of an upstanding publication.   That being said - my brain hurts after reading this and is leaving me to wonder: Is there where journalism and publication is heading?   Is this how the general population of our youth thinks?   

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-oshry/i-finally-understand-why-they-call-that-store-forever-21_b_6076940.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

birdybride2014

I like to think people only read these sorts of articles for entertainment purposes only. I know if I'm bored at work I'll read something like this, or do a buzzfeed quiz. But then a random FB friends "Shares" a post saying a school nearby has students with Ebola, and I'm reminded that we are sometimes surrounded by idiots. 

edited: clarity 

VulgarGirl

Ok I think I've made it pretty damn clear on here..I like to drink. FI is out right now getting us the shit to make Tequilia sunrises because someone said we should drink since we'll be stressing all day (we aren't stressed at all but it sounded like a good plan anyways). I don't remember a lot of when I was 21 because yes there was a lot of drinking. I have zero recall of my 21st birthday. I remember dinner with my parents and then nada. 

But just love and embrace life because you can now legally do what you've been doing since you were 15? You might actually have a drinking problem. And the majority of that article was gifs. If that's how we're doing journalism now I'm gonna go be a journalist. Cause I love gifs.

levioosa

Things like this make me sad (and roll my eyes).

When I was 21 (which was not all that long ago) I wrote about philosophy, social issues, and working through conflicts.  I also had friends to discuss it with, so it's not like our whole generation is completely inane.

I do think articles like  this are becoming more commonplace, perhaps because it is so easy to put it out on the internet.  People also like to read about things that relate solely to themselves, which is what this type of writing is capitalizing on.  I also think that because it is such a "crowd pleaser" type of article, better articles get lost in translation at times.  

On a related note: the Young Adult book sections now in stores make me sad.  

sarawifenow

I never thought this way. I will be 24 in a little over a month. What I do think is that at 21 you (read:I was) are more likely to try to impress your peers by going with the norm. This obiously isn't true fo everyone, but maybe the writer is trying to connect with a younger audience. Sadly, I know a few 21-year-olds and this is exactly something they would agree with/say.

VulgarGirl

levioosa said:

Things like this make me sad (and roll my eyes).

When I was 21 (which was not all that long ago) I wrote about philosophy, social issues, and working through conflicts.  I also had friends to discuss it with, so it's not like our whole generation is completely inane.

I do think articles like  this are becoming more commonplace, perhaps because it is so easy to put it out on the internet.  People also like to read about things that relate solely to themselves, which is what this type of writing is capitalizing on.  I also think that because it is such a "crowd pleaser" type of article, better articles get lost in translation at times.  

On a related note: the Young Adult book sections now in stores make me sad.  

I went into Barnes and Nobel recently and what was their fiction and literture section is now a toy store. What. The. Fuck.

Are we just like "Fuck it, we can't get them to read, here have a train" now? Have we just totally given up on people actually fucking reading?

VulgarGirl

Oh god. I just noticed it was in the Huffington Post WOMEN's section.

So apparently this isn't the youth of America today, this is the female youth of America. The male youth I'm sure is still be encouraged to be fucking CEOs. But girls ya know, drink it up bitches!!!! What what! We don't need feminism cause vodka is good and I look cute in my short dress!!!!

levioosa

I should also add that there is nothing wrong with going out and having a good time.  I did, and do go out, sometimes just to get a little buzzed.  I wasn't trying to sound sanctimonious.  Going out is fun.  Hanging out with friends with fun.   But when a party becomes your whole world, that's when you start to get lost. 

LakeR2014

I just started fuming and going cross-eyed at this part:

You can ditch that friend of yours who you're only friends with because she looks 35 and her identical-looking older sister gave her a foolproof ID to use. You don't need her anymore.

I wanted to smack the writer into reality, morality, and any -ity imaginative right there.  Who does this?

levioosa

LakeR2014 said:

I just started fuming and going cross-eyed at this part:

You can ditch that friend of yours who you're only friends with because she looks 35 and her identical-looking older sister gave her a foolproof ID to use. You don't need her anymore.

I wanted to smack the writer into reality, morality, and any -ity imaginative right there.  Who does this?

I honestly didn't read that part.  I kind of skimmed through the article because it started to make my eye twitch.  That's gross.  I'm guessing the writer is one of the Speshul Snowflakes who will try to dictate her BM's weight when she gets married.