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We have very much become an instant gratification type society, especially in Western countries, whereby we need things to be constantly evolving, it is very difficult to sustain our attention on anything for too long, we come bored easily and we demand new and better things. In fact Generation Y, of which I am a member, is largely responsible for our society following this path. You can see this illustrated in many ways; We are constantly hopping from job to job and mate to mate. News media journalism is very much sensationalised and only pays lip service to the whole truth and covers issues which are more entertainment based. We always want the latest gadgets and technology yet soon afterwards we get tired of it and want something better and flashier. Last year we had 2 cases which the Australia news media have covered in a saturation manner being Schapelle Corby and Douglas Wood. Schapelle Corby was a person who was found carrying a small amount of marijuana in Bali, Indonesia where drug offences are treated extremely seriously. Douglas Wood was working as contracter in Iraq and captured by insurgents but later released. Given the amount of media we have now competing for our attention in print, free to air and pay TV, international media, online media, etc. it was bound to happen. It was rare to actually get an impartial fully factual coverage of both sides as that would have probably bored a mass audience. In all likelihood for a lot of us now it is “Schapelle who?”. The other issue being that with so many resources devoted to these types of cases, many more important and far-reaching issues are ignored.

In terms of technology one of the biggest fads at he moment is the iPod which was the most popular item on kid’s wishlists last Christmas. The truth is that there are better and more feature packed products in the market at a lesser cost but the unbelievable campaign Apple have run have dwarfed these other products. From Christmas to Christmas we are graduating from DVD players to mobile phones to digital cameras to iPods when only a generation ago we were happy with just getting the next action figure or doll in the set. Now a device like a mobile phone or computer is on the scrap heap if it is older than 2-3 years.

Generation Ys are also predicted to have at least 10 job changes in their working life including multiple career changes. When asked why this occurs the common theme seems to be boredom, as no matter how interesting or fulfilling a particular job or workplace may be, it does not meet our need for things to be constantly new and exciting. This also a common theme when young people are asked they are not sticking to one partner.

Some of these instant gratifying moments are thrilling but when we look back on our lives it will be long lasting relationships that give us the greatest joy and not the “exciting today, forgotten tomorrow” events.

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