Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg knows that his social network is an avenue for human connection. He also knows that traditional means of social capital are on the decline, which means more fragmentation and weaker communities. Facebook has surpassed 2 billion online users worldwide, and Zuckerberg believes his platform can be a solution to our trend of coming apart.
Read MoreIt has been widely reported that the religiously unaffiliated are on the rise, especially among younger generations. Fewer and fewer people are choosing a traditional or organized form of religion, though some consider themselves spiritual. Correlatively, measures of loneliness and isolation are up. This makes sense. As people disengage from a proven means of social connection, a void opens.
Read MoreGo to school. Get married. Have children.
This is known as the “success sequence.” But among younger generations, who often meander along the path to full adulthood, this notion has fallen on hard times. Is a winding path to career and family a generational trend charting a different path to well-being? Or is the ancient path wiser?
Read MoreCatholic outlet EWTN News report that Pope Francis wants to hear directly from millennials. In 2018 the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will gather to discuss “Young People, the Faith and the Discernment of Vocation.” In preparation for this gathering they have appealed directly to youth. They want to hear what it is like for younger generations to be part of the Catholic church.
Read MoreWe have just passed high school graduation season, and several young friends of mine have now doffed cap and gown and processed to “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Graduation parties have also taken place. While attending a celebration for a former student, Oliver and I discussed Snapchat. Very casually, this eighteen-year-old told me, “Yea, I don’t even really check Snapchat anymore.” I wondered why, so he enlightened me.
Read MoreThe summer job isn’t as cool as it used to be.
The Atlantic recently reported that the rate at which teenagers obtain employment has been steadily decreasing for decades. Why? Have opportunities decreased as the economy has changed? Are Overwatch and Mass Effect consuming all of their time? What is generation Z up to when school is out?
Read MoreSo your church is great. The families and friends who gather together are great too! But if these people stay the same, your church will age one year at a time. It's not personal, its biology.
Read MoreTechnology is not neutral. Neither are its effects wholly positive. For younger generations, social media can take a negative toll on mental health.
Read MoreDuring the month of May there was a notable controversy surrounding Global Degree, an organization that advocates for education through travel rather than traditional means like colleges, universities, and trade schools. They specifically target millennials.
Read MoreWho do you think is most likely to be the loneliest generation—millennials, gen X, baby boomers, or the Silent Generation? If you had asked me earlier this week, I would have been confident in my prediction that the older generations feel a greater sense of loneliness. And I would have been wrong.
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