Mock 20 mark question

Using your wider knowledge of new media technologies, discuss how far young people's use of media technology differs from that of their parents.

Young people today use NMT much more than their parents do. Most NMT are aimed towards the younger audience with technologies such as social networking sites, mobile phones and music players. Older parents are simply not up to speed with this new technology and are often technophobic about it.

Social networking sites and other web 2.0 applications and websites, are encourage young people mostly to make accounts and be social with each other, exchanging pictures and videos, as well as chatting and making friends. Many of this seems to overwhelming and too complicated to learn for the parents of these children, however now, more and more of the older generation are now using sites like facebook and myspace to chat and stay in touch with each other.

Gaming has often been seen as a youth pastime with complex games and graphic violence, parents aren't interested in playing games. However this is likely to change with the Nintendo Wii as it has been designed with all ages in mind. For example with games like Wii Sports, a friendly all ages title, parents and children can all play together with the simple game play and input device. Parents can get to grip with this technology and enjoy playing along with their kids.

The digital music industry is mostly aimed at young adults and teenagers today. Although the parents may have vinyls or even CDs, most of the kids have iPods and various other mp3 players which are portable and able to be used on the go.